Lithium-ion battery recycling through an integrated electro-membrane crystallization technology.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Chemical Engineering
• Environmental Science

Background:

• Lithium-ion battery (LIB) recycling is critical due to the accumulation of spent batteries and the need for resource recovery.
• Current methods face challenges in selectively and efficiently recovering valuable metal ions like Li+, Mn2+, Ni2+, and Co2+ from complex leaching solutions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a scalable electro-membrane crystallization-assisted general recycling (e-MCGR) technology.
• To achieve selective and efficient recovery of key metal ions from LIB leaching solutions.

Main Methods:

• Integration of electrochemical and electro-membrane technologies into four configurations: selective membrane dual-stage distillation, bipolar membrane in-situ crystallization, membrane metal-complexing ex-situ crystallization, and membrane metal-extracting temporal crystallization.
• Systematic analysis of electro-membrane kinetics, crystallization performance, energy consumption, economic viability, and environmental benefits.

Main Results:

• Optimized e-MCGR achieved high recovery rates: 95.5% for Li+, 99.5% for Mn2+, 83.1% for Ni2+, and 87.3% for Co2+.
• High product purities were obtained: 99.9% for Li2CO3, 99.9% for Mn3O4, 99.5% for Ni(OH)2, and 92.5% for Co(OH)2.

Conclusions:

• The e-MCGR technology offers a scalable and efficient solution for LIB recycling.
• This approach aligns technological performance with energy, environmental, and economic sustainability, potentially transforming LIB recycling practices.