Selective Lithium Recovery from Spent Lithium Manganate Batteries Using Oxidative Stabilization Technique

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Chemical Engineering
• Environmental Science

Background:

• Lithium battery recycling is crucial for resource recovery and sustainability.
• Oxidative methods offer selective extraction of valuable metals from spent batteries.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an optimized process for selective lithium extraction from discarded lithium batteries.
• To investigate the role of oxidizing agents and phosphoric acid in the recycling process.

Main Methods:

• Sintered electrode powder treatment using phosphoric acid (H3PO4) and potassium persulfate (K2S2O8) as the oxidant.
• Optimized conditions involved heating to drive oxidant activity and deform the material structure.
• Characterization using X-ray diffraction, X-ray spectroscopy, SEM, and ICP-MS.

Main Results:

• Achieved a lithium leaching rate of 94.16% and a separation factor of 95.74%.
• Manganese leaching was limited to less than 5%, with conversion to insoluble manganese compounds.
• High-purity lithium carbonate was successfully precipitated from the leach solution.

Conclusions:

• The developed oxidative leaching method is highly effective for selective lithium recovery from spent batteries.
• This process minimizes manganese loss and produces a valuable lithium carbonate product.
• The findings contribute to sustainable practices in battery recycling and resource management.