Recovery of Graphite from Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries
Charlotte Badenhorst,
Iwona Kuzniarska-Biernacka,
Alexandra Guedes,
Elsayed Mousa,
Violeta Ramos,
Gavin Rollinson,
Guozhu Ye,
Bruno Valentim
Affiliations
Charlotte Badenhorst
Instituto de Ciências da Terra—Pólo Porto, Departamento de Geociências, Ambiente e Ordenamento do Território, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre s/n, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal
Iwona Kuzniarska-Biernacka
REQUIMTE/LAQV, Departamento de Química e Bioquímica, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre s/n, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal
Alexandra Guedes
Instituto de Ciências da Terra—Pólo Porto, Departamento de Geociências, Ambiente e Ordenamento do Território, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre s/n, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal
Elsayed Mousa
SWERIM AB, Aronstorpsvägen 1, SE-974 37 Luleå, Sweden
Violeta Ramos
Instituto de Ciências da Terra—Pólo Porto, Departamento de Geociências, Ambiente e Ordenamento do Território, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre s/n, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal
Gavin Rollinson
Camborne School of Mines, Penryn Campus, University of Exeter, Penryn TR10 9FE, UK
Guozhu Ye
SWERIM AB, Aronstorpsvägen 1, SE-974 37 Luleå, Sweden
Bruno Valentim
Instituto de Ciências da Terra—Pólo Porto, Departamento de Geociências, Ambiente e Ordenamento do Território, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre s/n, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal
Critical raw materials, such as graphite and lithium metal oxides (LMOs), with a high supply risk and high economic importance are present in spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). The recovery and recycling of these critical raw materials from LIBs will contribute to the circular economy model, reduce the environmental footprint associated with the mining of these materials, and lower their high supply risk. The main aim of this paper is to present a separation process to recover graphite from black mass (BM) from spent LIB. Simultaneously, LMO and copper (Cu) and aluminum (Al) foils were also recovered as by-products from the process. The process used a combination of simple and/or low environmental footprint technologies, such as sieving, sink-float, citric acid leaching, and milling through ultrasound and soft attrition, to allow separation of the LIB valuable components. Three graphite-rich products (with purities ranging between 74 and 88 wt.% total carbon and a combined yield of 14 wt.%) with three different sizes (<25 µm, <45 µm, and <75 µm), Cu and Al foil fragments, and an LMO-rich precipitate product are delivered. The developed process is simple, using low temperatures and weak acids, and using affordable and scalable equipment available in the market. Its advantage over other LIB recycling processes is that it can be implemented, so to speak, “in your backyard”.
