CoSO4 Research Articles

High anhydrous proton conductivity and a smart proton transportation approach of a sulfate coordination polymer.

We successfully synthesized a one-dimensional cobalt sulfate coordinating polymer, whose simple hydrogen bond web structure facilitated the analysis of the proton transfer process. At 175 °C, without humidity, the conductivity is 0.0311 S cm-1, which exceeds those of most of the organic inorganic hybrid materials under anhydrous conditions (world record rank 8). Based on its crystal structure and theoretical calculations, the subversive proton conduction pathway was inferred clearly. We, for the first time, found that the proton smartly chose the path with a lower energy barrier but not the one with short distance to transport avoiding short circuit.

Simulation-based life cycle assessment of secondary materials from recycling of lithium-ion batteries

The EU Battery Regulation is aimed at minimizing negative impact of waste batteries on the environment. Recycling of lithium-ion batteries is one way to reduce those impacts. However, a lack of detailed process-level data is limiting the environmental impact assessment. In this study, the necessary data is generated using process simulation, and is used to estimate the material recovery rates and environmental impacts of a recycling nickel-manganese-cobalt-based battery. We apply and allocate the impacts of recycling to determine secondary battery material carbon footprints. The results were compared with that of primary raw materials based on mass-based and economic value-based allocation. In reference scenario, applying economic value-based allocation resulted in cobalt sulphate and nickel sulphate having 73.5 % and 57.4 % lower carbon footprint than their primary, however, lithium carbonate had a 20.8 % higher footprint. The results indicate the need to improve material recoveries for meeting EU Battery Regulation targets, while minimizing environmental impact.

Cathode Active Material Synthesis and Battery Performance Tests for Li-Ion Batteries Obtained from Domestic Raw Materials: A Special Case Study from Ore to Battery

The energy requirement brought by technological developments from the past to the present evolves depending on the society's desire to be mobile, which is increasing day by day. Many technological devices such as electrical vehicles, smart phones, computers, drones, cameras meet the required energy from rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. However, the increasing world population and the increasing specifications of the technological devices developed in parallel with the per capita energy consumption by making the raw material resources needed for the production of these technological devices even more important. Nickel, cobalt and manganese compounds, which are the main raw materials used in the cathode production of NMC type lithium-ion batteries, are among these elements of strategic and critical importance, and the production of these chemicals in appropriate quality is of great importance for the industrial development of lithium-ion-based domestic battery technologies in each country. Meta Nikel Kobalt A.Ş., is the first and the only industrially scaled nickel-cobalt plant using HPAL technology in northern hemisphere at . In Gördes plant, nickel-cobalt-manganese hydroxide intermediate product concentrate (MHP) is produced from low grade Gördes lateritic ore following the unit operations of ore preparation, mineral processing, high pressure acid leaching, neutralization and precipitation and is currently completely exported to overseas. However, due to the responsibility of transforming domestic resources to high value-added technological products and obtaining value-added products, research in this field has been regarded and the necessary technological infrastructure and specific knowledge have been created. Within the scope of this project, precious metals in the MHP intermediate product obtained from Gördes lateritic ore were leached and valuable elements are taken to the liquid phase and crystallized after further purification processes such as solvent extraction and ion exchange. As a result, metal salts with purity up to 99.99% were obtained. The obtained nickel, cobalt and manganese sulphate salts were precipitated together with the developed co-precipitation process to obtain precursor in the form of NMC 622. After that, the precursor is treated with lithium and the cathode active material (CAM) is obtained by going through various heat treatments by systematically designed test campaign. The coin cell made with the CAM obtained from domestic raw materials showed a capacity of 184.55 mAh/g at 0.1C. It showed a capacity of 170.58 mAh/g in the first cycle and 157.45 mAh/g in the 50th cycle at 0.5 C, and the capacity conservation was calculated as 92.3% after 50 cycles at 0.5 C. The CAM obtained in the pilot-scale studies carried out according to the lab-scale developed process and sent to for making pouch type battery. In the 10 Ah capacity cells of the produced pouch type, 82% capacity conversation has been achieved as a result of 1000 cycles at a charge/discharge rate of 0.5 C at 100% CoC(Dept of Discharge) in the voltage range of 3-4.15V. Figure 1

Global warming potential of lithium-ion battery cell production: Determining influential primary and secondary raw material supply routes

This study assesses the global warming potential (GWP) impacts of lithium-ion battery (LIB) recycling and subsequent cell production from primary and secondary raw materials. Furthermore, the study proposes multiple allocation strategies for the GWP impacts of LIB recycling, which range from 18 to 22 kg CO2 equivalent per kilowatt-hour NMC111 and NMC811 battery packs to determine the environmental burdens of secondary raw materials. The results demonstrate that using secondary raw materials could ideally reduce NMC111 and NMC811 cell production GWP by 30 %. In practice, GWP impact reductions will vary depending on factors, such as the contributions of primary production and recycling to battery raw material supply, and the market share of the different technologies employed within both primary production and recycling.Based on estimates for the availability of recycled raw materials to the European battery value chain, the sensitivity analysis methods identified NMC hydroxide, nickel sulfate, and battery-grade graphite as the most influential recycled raw materials on NMC111 cell production GWP. These materials received importance scores of 59%, 8%, and 6% respectively. Primary supply routes for cobalt sulfate received the highest importance score, followed by the primary supply routes of lithium carbonate and nickel sulfate. For NMC811 cells, nickel sulfate (34%), NMC hydroxide (27%) and graphite (8%) were identified as the most influential recycled raw materials, with the primary supply routes of nickel sulfate, lithium hydroxide and battery-grade graphite being the most influential.

Process Development for the Recovery of Manganese Dioxide, Cobalt(II) Sulfate, and Nickel(II) Sulfate Powders from the Reduction Smelted Alloys of Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries

ABSTRACT The smelting reduction of spent lithium-ion batteries at high temperature results in metallic alloys containing cobalt, copper, nickel, and manganese, in addition to aluminum and lithium oxides. A process has been proposed to selectively recover high-purity powders of manganese dioxide, cobalt(II) sulfate, and nickel(II) sulfate from these metallic alloys. Initially, the metallic alloys were completely dissolved using a mixture of 2.0 M sulfuric acid and 15% (v/v) hydrogen peroxide with a pulp density of 25 g/L over a duration of 120 minutes. Subsequently, copper(II) ions were removed through cementation with manganese powder, and aluminum hydroxide was precipitated by adjusting the solution pH to 4.5 at room temperature. Pure manganese dioxide was then obtained from the resulting filtrate through oxidative precipitation, utilizing sodium hypochlorite as an oxidizing agent. The separation of cobalt(II) and nickel(II) was achieved via a two-stage counter-current extraction using a 20% saponified 0.5 M Cyanex 272 solution. The loaded cobalt(II) was stripped using a 0.3 M sulfuric acid solution, leading to the crystallization of cobalt(II) sulfate powders. The pH of the raffinate was adjusted to 9.0, resulting in the precipitation of nickel(II) hydroxide, which was subsequently dissolved to recover nickel(II) sulfate powders from the solution. Most of the experiments were conducted at ambient temperature, except for the evaporation stage of crystallization. Continuous experiments verified that the purity of the recovered cobalt, manganese, and nickel powders was 99.9%.

Process monitoring of cobalt carbonate precipitation by reactions between cobalt sulfate and sodium carbonate solutions to control product morphology and purity

Recovering critical elements from EV batteries is challenging as the separation is a complex process which involves different processing parameters. Cobalt (Co) is one of the metals which ensures the life of EV batteries and here we have successfully precipitated cobalt carbonate (CoCO3) by semi-batch precipitation using cobalt sulfate and sodium carbonate as reactant solutions. The precipitation of cobalt carbonate was investigated by offline Raman spectroscopy, Powder X-ray diffraction analysis, inline Focused Beam Reflectance Measurement (FBRM), and pH measurements. In addition, the effects of various factors including pH, aging time, reactant addition time, mixing speed, and temperature on cobalt carbonate precipitation and the properties of the precipitated solids were investigated. In the process of precipitation, the carbonate ions in the initial electrolyte solution were converted to bicarbonate ions during the addition of acidic cobalt sulfate solution, which consequently decreased the pH in the suspension. When the pH was lower than 8, the carbon mainly existed as bicarbonate and the cobalt carbonate started to precipitate at a high efficiency. Cobalt initially precipitated as cobalt carbonate hydroxide (Co2CO3(OH)2) at a higher pH (9–11) and converted to cobalt carbonate at a lower pH (6.5–8). The crystallite size of cobalt carbonate calculated for the different reaction conditions shows that the growth response is high at longer reactant addition time and high temperature. The morphology of the final cobalt carbonate precipitate was small single spherical crystals and their aggregates. The purity of precipitates could be increased by reducing the aggregation tendency during the precipitation.

Experimental study on a concentrating solar photovoltaic/thermal system using different fluid spectral beam filters

Spectral splitting photovoltaic/thermal technology is the leading field in the area of extremely efficient utilization of solar energy. Due to its complexity, experimental research on spectral splitting photovoltaic/thermal devices is relatively limited, mainly focusing on the laboratory scale energy efficiency test or calculation process verification. These studies do not provide intuitionistic guidance for the actual operation of engineering systems. In this paper, a fluid filter-based compound parabolic concentrator solar photovoltaic/thermal system with engineering application dimensions is designed and experimentally studied under actual outdoor environments. Different fluid filters are prepared and used to regulate the spectral splitting characteristics of the proposed system, including the deionized water, silver/water nanofluids and silver-cobalt sulfate/water nanofluids. When the environmental parameters are relatively stable, the method of adjusting the composition of the fluid filter is used to obtain the dynamic operating characteristics of the system. The results show that silver nanoparticles and cobalt sulfate can improve the spectral absorptivity of the deionized water. Compared with the deionized water, when the silver/water nanofluids is used as the fluid filter, the thermal efficiency of the system increases, the electric efficiency and overall exergy efficiency of the system both decrease, and the three efficiencies are 56.0%, 8.5% and 19.6%, while for the silver-cobalt sulfate/water nanofluids, the efficiencies are 58.0% 8.0% and 20.0%. Moreover, the results reveal that for the photovoltaic/thermal system with a low solar concentration ratio, by enhancing the absorptivity of the fluid filter, the fill factor of the photovoltaic module can increase, but the output electric power will decrease. When the silver-cobalt sulfate/water nanofluids is used, the fill factor and maximum output power of the proposed system are 0.633 and 69.2 W. For a unit consisting of four sets of the proposed photovoltaic/thermal systems, the emission reductions of CO2, NOx, SO2 and dust for the whole lifetime are approximately 7794.19 kg, 181.48 kg, 191.95 kg and 111.68 kg, respectively.

Flowsheet design and environmental impacts of cobalt co-product recovery from complex Au-Co ores

The increasing demand for battery metals, such as cobalt, increases the attractiveness of conventionally overlooked raw materials, such as small multi-metal deposits. With the length of mining and extractive metallurgy projects, it is advantageous to evaluate possible processing routes well in advance with a variety of tools, such as experimental, piloting, simulation, and life cycle assessment. In this study, simulation-based life cycle assessment was used to compare the baseline of only recovering gold from sulfidic Au-Co-(Cu-As) ores to five scenarios where both gold and cobalt were recovered, the latter as battery grade cobalt sulfate heptahydrate. Technical performance and several impact categories affecting climate change, ecosystems, and human health, were investigated to assess the advantages and drawbacks of each option.The environmental competitiveness varied between different studied scenarios vs. observed impact categories. The baseline process - with no cobalt recovery - had the lowest energy and global warming impacts but fared worse in toxicity categories. Pressure leaching scenario achieved low toxicities but was shown to be environmentally highly intensive in all other categories. The pyrometallurgical-hydrometallurgical roasting-leaching process resulted in the lowest environmental impacts in most of the studied categories. However, in terms of acidification and photochemical oxidant creation, the fine grinding-leaching process was the best option. In all studied scenarios the major technical challenge was found to be the stabilization of arsenic, yet the technical issues can effectively be resolved by treating the arsenical and non-arsenical concentrates in separate processes. In the current results, the temporal boundary, allocation choice, and current lack of experimental work remain major sources of uncertainty.

Parametric study and process modeling for metronidazole removal by rhombic dodecahedron ZIF-67 crystals

Metronidazole (MNZ) is an extensively used antibiotic against bacterial infections for humans and farm animals. Prevention of antibiotics discharge is essential to prevent adverse environmental and health impacts. A member of metal–organic frameworks, zeolite imidazole framework-67 with cobalt sulfate precursor (ZIF-67-SO4) and exceptional physio-chemical properties was prepared via room temperature precipitation to adsorb MNZ. The study framework was designed by Box–Behnken Design to evaluate the effect of pH, ZIF-67-SO4 dose, and contact time on adsorption efficiency. The polynomial model fitted the adsorption system indicated the optimal condition for 97% MNZ removal occurs at pH = 7, adsorbent dosage = 1 g/L, and mixing time = 60 min. The model also revealed that the removal increased with contact time and decreased at strong pH. Equilibrium and kinetic study also indicated the adsorption of MNZ followed the intra-particle diffusion model and the Langmuir isotherm model with a qmax = 63.03 mg/g. The insignificant loss in removal efficacy in use-reuse adsorption cycles reflected the practical viability of ZIF-67-SO4.

Solubility Studies of Sulfates of Copper, Zinc and Cobalt in Phosphoric Acid at 30 ºC

Present study reports the isothermal experiments conducted at 30 ºC to ascertain the solubility of copper, zinc and cobalt sulfates in phosphoric acid. The solubility diagram of CuSO4-H3PO4-H2O system is shown to have one branch, this is equivalent to the discharge of copper sulfate pentahydrate into the equilibrium solid phase. The solubility diagrams of zinc and cobalt sulfates have two branches of salt crystallization, corresponding to the release of hexahydrates and monohydrates of zinc and cobalt with increasing phosphoric acid content, saturated solutions in the ZnSO4-H3PO4-H2O and CoSO4-H3PO4-H2O systems become more viscous and denser, reaching a maximum at the transition point, while these indicators in the CuSO4-H3PO4-H2O system only increase.

Study on the mechanism of sulfur poisoning in toluene catalyzed by Co3O4/γ-Al2O3 sulfur tolerant catalyst containing spinel structure

In this paper, in-situ thermal decomposition of ammonium sulfate method was used to cause sulfur poisoning of Co3O4/γ-Al2O3 catalyst rapidly and quantitatively. The pore structure, valence state of active species, surface morphology and acidity of the catalyst before and after sulfur poisoning were characterized, and its influence on catalytic combustion of toluene was studied. The results showed the crystal shape of the catalyst changed little after sulfur poisoning. As sulfur poisoning gradually deepened, the formation of sulfate blocked the pores, the high-valence cobalt decreased, strong acid sites increased, and its catalytic activity for toluene combustion gradually decreased. Formation of cobalt sulfate was a main reason for the decline in catalyst activity. Spinel phase CoAl2O4 formed outside γ-Al2O3 framework can adsorb a large amount of sulfur species to form sulfate, protecting Co3O4 and delaying the deactivation of catalysts.

Catalytic Hydrogenation of Anthracene on Binary (Bimetallic) Composite Catalysts

The catalytic activity of the binary composite catalysts of Fe2O3-CoO/CaA and Fe2O3-CoO/ZSM-5 was studied. They were obtained by impregnation of CaA and ZSM-5 zeolites with aqueous solutions of sulfates of iron (FeSO4·7H2O) and cobalt (CoSO4·7H2O). The total metal content was no more than 5%. Then, oxidizing burning at 720 °C for 60 min was performed to produce the metal oxides. It was found that the obtained Fe-Co/CaA catalyst contains iron and cobalt as CoFe2O4 compound, and the Fe-Co/ZSM-5 catalyst includes CoFe2O4 and CoFe. The phase composition of the obtained catalysts was detected by the X-ray diffraction analysis. The surface morphology was investigated by the electron microscopy. The elemental composition of the obtained catalysts was determined by energy dispersive spectroscopy with mapping and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy. The atomic absorption analysis by the IR-spectroscopy showed the shifts of absorption bands in the infrared spectra of the pure zeolites and with added Fe and Co. The catalytic hydrogenation of anthracene was performed to determine the catalytic properties of the obtained catalysts. It is one of the most common model compounds applied to investigate the efficiency of catalytic systems. The result of hydrogenation found that conversion of anthracene at 400 °C, initial pressure of 6 MPa and duration of 60 min using the Fe-Co/CaA catalytic system equaled to ~87%. However, hydrogenation products equaled to ~84%. Anthracene conversion using the Fe-Co/ZSM-5 catalytic system and the same conditions was ~91%; among them, hydrogenated derivatives were ~71%. The proposed method is characterized by its simple execution. The obtained catalysts are be slightly inferior to platinum and rhodium catalysts in the catalytic activity.

A feasible process for recycling valuable metals from LiNi0.5Co0.2Mn0.3O2 cathode materials of spent Li-ion batteries

ABSTRACT The recycling of cathode materials for spent NCM has always been a major concern for the energy industry. However, among the current processing methods, the general leaching efficiency of Li is between 85% and 93%, with much room for improvement. The recovery of Ni, Co and Mn requires a high cost of secondary purification. In this study, to recycle the NCM cathode material, a route of sulphated reduction roasting – selective Li water leaching – efficiency acid leaching of Ni, Co, Mn – extraction separation – crystallisation was adopted. The results showed that after roasting (a temperature of 800 °C, a reaction time of 90 min, a carbon content of 26%, and a sulphuric acid addition of nH2SO4:nLi = 0.85), Li water leaching efficiency was 98.6%, followed by acid leaching of Ni, Co and Mn at around 99%. Mn, Co were extracted with Di-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid and 2-Ethylhexyl phosphonic acid mono-2-ethylhexyl ester respectively to obtain Ni, Co, Mn solutions, which eventually were crystallized for manganese sulphate, cobalt sulphate, lithium carbonate and nickel sulphate products, with high purity of 99.40%, 98.95%, 99.10%, and 99.95%. The results of this study improved the leaching efficiency of Li and were closely linked to the actual industrial preparation of Ni, Co and Mn sulphates, providing a feasible and promising basis for spent NCM cathode materials industrial recovery.

Evaluation of Three Deworming Methods and their Long-Term Effect on the Weight of Buffaloes Raised in Silvopastoral Systems

Purpose of the Study: The present work aimed to evaluate the effect of three deworming methods on body weight gains in buffaloes raised in silvopastoral systems (SPS).
 Methods: Thirty buffaloes were divided into three groups (ten per group) as follows: 1) Albendazole 10 g + 1.3 g of cobalt sulfate at one week of age and 14 days later; 2) Albendazole 10 g + 1.3 g of cobalt sulfate at one week of age and 14 days later, then at 6 months and 14 days later; 3) Ivermectin 1 g at 30 days of age and then at six months of age. Birth, weaning (9 months), and final (18 months) weight were registered, and daily weight gains were calculated. The McMaster technique was used to evaluate the presence of parasites.
 Results: The overall prevalence of parasites in the animals evaluated was 93.33%. The most common parasites were: Strongylus sp., Neoascaris sp., Moniezia sp., and Eimeria sp. Before the application of the dewormers, initial values in G1, G2, and G3 were 360, 350, and 210 hpg/opg; after the application of the treatments, 60, 25, and 20 hpg/opg were obtained, respectively. Buffaloes in G2 showed significantly (P=0.046) high final weights (415.10±23.76 kg) compared to G1 (354.80±46.71 kg) but showed no difference with G3 (374.80±43.60k).
 Conclusion: It is concluded that albendazole at 10 g and a repeat at six months of age can be used in buffalo breeding in SPS, which could help to implement regenerative livestock programs, decreasing the use of Ivermectin.

Contribution of Obi Island Reducing the Carbon Footprint in the Transport Sector

Transportation is one of the main sectors contributing to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that cause global climate change. One of the decarbonization strategies from the transportation sector that can be implemented is by switching to a sustainable mode of transportation, especially battery electric vehicles (BEV). Since mid-2021, Obi Island has been producing Mixed Hydroxide Precipitate (MHP). It is an intermediate product of limonite nickel ore processed using hydrometallurgical processing techniques through the first refining plant in Indonesia using High Pressure Acid Leaching (HPAL) technology. The MHP will be processed into Nickel Sulfate (NiSO4.6H2O) and Cobalt Sulfate (CoSO4.7H2O), the primary precursor materials for electric vehicles. The potential GHG emissions reduction in the transportation sector from the processing of limonite nickel ore in Obi Island is 2.04 MtCO2 in 2022 to 21.02 MtCO2 in 2040 with a total accumulation until 2040 of 344.56 MtCO2.

Inspired by nature: Self-fractal cobalt sulfate composite electrode for sodium ion storage

Generally, the metal sulfide itself has poor conductivity, and the volume expansion occurs when it is converted with sodium, which will destroy the integrity of the electrode structure, resulting in poor cycle performance and rate performance. To solve the problems of low initial coulombic efficiency (ICE) and volume expansion of metal compounds used as anodes in sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). Inspired by nature, the CoSO4/hard carbon/graphene (CHG) fractal structure electrode was designed. Self-fractal structures with electron/ion transport channels and high strain tolerance proved to be an effective strategy to overcome these challenges. The fractal dimension (D) is measured by synchronous Small Angle X-ray scattering, and the D remains stable during charging and discharging. The fractal CHG also showed excellent electrochemical performance, especially 97.4% ICE. Theoretical calculation shows that self-fractal CHG can promote the formation of a thin solid electrolyte interface (SEI). Synchrotron radiation absorption spectrum proved the reaction mechanism of CHG. This study not only proves that cobalt sulfate is a feasible strategy for developing high-performance SIBs anodes but also provides an advanced method for measuring the fractal dimension of energy storage electrode materials.

Evaluation of cobalt nanoparticles suspension as antifungal agent in treatment of cutaneous candidiasis

Over the last ten years, nanomaterials have been extensively employed in the medical field and several essential industries. It is used mainly in developing novel antimicrobials as an alternative to conventional agents. This research emphasizes synthesizing cobalt nanoparticles (CoNPs) and testing their antifungal activity in treating cutaneous candidiasis.Cobalt nanoparticles (CoNPs) were synthesized from Cobalt Sulfate heptahydrate (CoSO4·7H2O) using hydrazine monohydrate as a reducing agent. The CoNPs suspension was analyzed using X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy (AFM), and the field emission scanning electron microscope to determine the crystallographic and morphological properties and concentration of the produced CoNPs. The antifungal activity of the CoNPs suspension was confirmed in-vitro by the agar well diffusion method and in-vivo by treating an induced case of cutaneous candidiasis in Sprague Dawley rats as a model.The experimental results demonstrated that CoNPs suspension exhibited antifungal action in-vitro (on the plates) and that Candida albicans required a concentration of 9.4 ​μg/mL as the minimum inhibitory concentration. In contrast, data shows that the plate's inhibition zone improved due to increased CoNPs concentration in the prepared suspension. The in-vivo experiment shows complete healing of the skin lesion on day six for the rats' group treated with CoPNs suspension, and on day five in the rats' group treated with Nystatin. These results demonstrate that CoPNs suspension is effective in treating cutaneous candidiasis in Sprague Dawley rats; however, it is still less effective than Nystatin.

Investigating the evolution of surface physico-chemistry in arsenide minerals during flotation process: A study of skutterudite, gersdorffite, and nickeline

Skutterudite ((Co,Ni,Fe)As3), gersdorffite (NiAsS), and nickeline (NiAs) are some common arsenic- and nickel-bearing minerals often encountered worldwide in mine ores and mine wastes. These arsenides can be the source of arsenic- and nickel-contaminated neutral drainage (CND) when subjected to atmospheric conditions. Environmental desulphurization by froth flotation is a promising technique used to prevent this contamination. This study fills a knowledge gap in the evolution of the surface physicochemistry of these arsenides under different conditions, in order to determine the best conditions for flotation and successful environmental desulfurization. This work evaluates the impact of grinding, air-oxidation (aging), and conditioning on the mineral surfaces, as well as their interaction with potassium amyl xanthate (PAX) as a flotation collector. The effect of activation by copper sulphate (CuSO4) was also examined. The adsorption of PAX was analyzed by ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) spectrophotometry and zeta potential measurements, and the surface was characterized using diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) allowing the speciation of the oxidation layer across the different mineral surfaces. Dry grinding and aging of the minerals produces thin heterogenous oxide and hydroxide layers that are mainly enriched in arsenic oxides, especially in the form of arsenate (as an oxidation product of arsenite), and arsenic, cobalt, and nickel sulphates and hydroxides. Arsenides conditioning under alkaline conditions enhances the oxidation effect on the mineral surfaces compared to natural conditions. Copper sulfate activation was found to be effective on the arsenides and improves the adsorption of xanthate on the oxidized arsenide surfaces, especially under alkaline conditions. The results of this study provide a better understanding of the surface chemistry of these minerals before and after collector adsorption, which should impact their flotation behavior.

Determination of nucleation kinetics of cobalt sulfate by measuring metastable zone width and induction time in pure and sulfuric acid solution

The metastable zone width (MSZW) and induction time of CoSO4 in the presence of H2SO4 were measured at various operating conditions by polythermal and isothermal methods, respectively. Raman spectroscopy and UV–Vis have been successfully adopted for measuring the solubility of CoSO4. The nucleation parameters were estimated with a self-consistent Nývlt-like approach and classical 3D theory approach. The results show a decrease in the solubility of CoSO4 with an increase in the concentration of H2SO4. MSZW decreased when raising the saturation temperature, mixing speed, and H2SO4 concentration, and decreasing the cooling rate. The induction time measurement indicated that the system showed homogeneous nucleation at high supersaturation (>1.15) and heterogeneous nucleation at low supersaturation (<1.15). The crystallized product was CoSO4⋅7H2O which has an octahedron shape and cubic shape with and without H2SO4, respectively. Moreover, the particle sizes are smaller with increased H2SO4 concentration and cooling rate.

Li-Cycle expects federal loan

The battery recycling start-up Li-Cycle has received a $375 million conditional loan commitment from the US Department of Energy in support of its planned processing facility in upstate New York. Li-Cycle already accepts lithium-ion batteries for recycling at four sites and uses a process called submerged shredding to reduce the batteries to “black mass,” an intermediate containing the valuable metals. The processing facility, in Rochester, will extract lithium carbonate, nickel sulfate, and cobalt sulfate from black mass at a capacity equivalent to 90,000 metric tons of used battery material. The DOE loan comes from Inflation Reduction Act funds and will carry the same relatively low interest rate as 10-year Treasury notes.