Efficient recovery of lithium and cobalt from spent lithium-ion batteries by p-toluene sulfonic acid

Authors

jiadong Liu, State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water- Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology
Tsz Yau Mak, Faculty of Science and Technology, Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong
Xuyang Wang, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Energy Materials for Electric Power, Southern University of Science and Technology
Zhouguang Lu, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Energy Materials for Electric Power, Southern University of Science and Technology
Dawson Wai Shun Suen, Faculty of Science and Technology, Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong KongFollow
Xiaoying Helen Lu, Faculty of Science and Technology, Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong KongFollow
Yuanyuan Tang, State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water- Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology

Staff Page Link

Dr LU Xiaoying, Helen

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

2022

Keywords

Lithium cobalt oxide; Recovery; p-toluene sulfonic acid; Spent lithium-ion battery; Kinetics; Leaching

Abstract

Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are widely used in consumer electronics and electric vehicles. In terms of environmental restrictions and circular economy, proper treatment of spent LIBs is of great significance for achieving sustainable development. In this study, organic p-toluene sulfonic acid (PTSA) was employed to recycle valuable Li and Co elements from the spent LIBs for production of battery raw materials. Operation parameters such as PTSA concentration, hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) concentration, solid-to-liquid ratio, leaching temperature and time, were systematically investigated. Under the optimal conditions (0.9 vol% H₂O₂, 1.5 mol L^-1 PTSA, 30 g L^{- 1} solid-to-liquid ratio, 80 °C, and 60 min), while the leaching efficiencies of spent LiCoO₂ for Li and Co was 95 and 93% respectively, the leaching efficiencies of commercial LiCoO₂ was nearly quantitative. In addition, the selective precipitation of Co-rich compounds in cooled leachate allowed an effective separation of Co from the mixture. The high recovery yield of Co₃O₄ and Li₂CO₃ demonstrated the great potential of the PTSA-assisted leaching method in metal recovery of the spent LIBs for practical applications. Overall, this proposed recovery process is simple, efficient, and environmentally friendly and is of vital importance for rational treatment of spent LIBs.

Source Publication

Hydrometallurgy

Recommended Citation

Liu, j.,Mak, T.,Wang, X.,Lu, Z.,Suen, D.,Lu, X.,& Tang, Y. (2022). Efficient recovery of lithium and cobalt from spent lithium-ion batteries by p-toluene sulfonic acid. Hydrometallurgy. Retrieved from https://repository.vtc.edu.hk/thei-fac-sci-tech-sp/523