Lithium Extraction From Commercial Lithium-Ion Phosphate-Based Black Masses by Bioleaching Process

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Environmental Science
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Lithium-ion battery production is rapidly increasing, driven by consumer electronics and electric vehicles.
• Lithium (Li) is a critical component, but its natural resource availability and supply chain risks necessitate recycling.
• Sustainable Li recovery from spent batteries is vital for environmental and industrial sustainability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a bioleaching-mediated method for lithium recovery from lithium iron phosphate (LFP)-based black masses.
• To investigate Li recovery at higher solid content using the bacterium Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans.
• To establish a sustainable and efficient process for recycling lithium from end-of-life batteries.

Main Methods:

• Bioleaching of LFP-based commercial black masses using the autotrophic bacterium Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans.
• Utilized high solid content (100-150 g/L pulp density) in the bioleaching process.
• Analyzed Li recovery using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES).
• Characterized black masses pre- and post-bioleaching using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM).

Main Results:

• Achieved 90% lithium recovery from two distinct commercial black masses.
• Efficient recovery occurred within 6 to 24 hours at high pulp densities (100-150 g/L).
• XRD and SEM analyses confirmed significant lithium extraction from the LFP black masses.

Conclusions:

• Bioleaching with Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans is an effective method for recovering lithium from LFP black masses.
• The process demonstrates high efficiency and speed, even at elevated solid concentrations.
• This bioleaching approach offers a promising sustainable pathway for lithium recycling in the battery industry.