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Novel PbO@C composite material directly derived from spent lead-acid batteries by one-step spray pyrolysis process
Wenhao Yu1, Mingyang Li1, Sha Liang1
1School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), 1037 Luoyu Road, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China; Hubei Provincial Engineering Laboratory of Solid Waste Treatment, Disposal and Recycling, 1037 Luoyu Road, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China.
Abstract:
A one-step spray pyrolysis process is investigated for the first time in the field of spent lead-acid batteries (LABs) recycling. The spent lead paste that derived from spent LAB is desulfurized and then leached to generate the lead acetate (Pb(Ac)2) solution, which is then sprayed directly into a tube furnace to prepare the lead oxide (PbO) product by pyrolysis. The low-impurity lead oxide product (9 mg/kg Fe and 1 mg/kg Ba) is obtained under the optimized conditions (the temperature of 700 °C, the pumping rate of 50 L/h, and the spray rate of 0.5 mL/min). The major crystalline phases of the synthesized products are identified to be α-PbO and β-PbO. In the spray pyrolysis process, Pb(Ac)2 droplets are sequentially transformed into various intermediate products: H2O(g)@Pb(Ac)2 solution, Pb(Ac)2 crystals@PbO, and the final PbO@C product. Owning its carbon skeleton structure, the recovered PbO@C product (carbon content of 0.14%) shows better performance than the commercial ball-milled lead oxide powder in battery tests, with higher initial capacity and better cycling stability. This study could provide a strategy for the short-route recovery of spent LABs.
