Towards the production of oxalate precursors from NMC111 black mass via selective leaching of Li and Al and solvent extraction of CuShow others and affiliations
2026 (English)In: Journal of Power Sources Advances, E-ISSN 2666-2485, Vol. 37, article id 100201Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
A novel recycling route for spent lithium-ion batteries has been investigated. The end goal is to produce cathodeactive material (CAM) precursor directly from the recycled solution. The process begins with an oxalic acidleaching (0.6 M H2C2O4, 60 ◦C, 120 min, and S/L = 50 g/L), where Li is selectively recovered (along with Al)which reduces downstream contamination and enhances overall material efficiency. The resulting residue, amixture of (Co,Ni,Mn)C2O4 ⋅ 2H2O, graphite, and Cu, is then leached with sulfuric acid to dissolve the metals andseparate them from the graphite. This second leaching operation is investigated, and the optimum parameters aredemonstrated (2 M H2SO4, 65 ◦C, 120 min, S/L = 20 g/L), yielding more than 95 % recovery of Ni, Co, and Mnand about 70 % of Cu. Lower acidity or S/L leads to the reprecipitation of a Ni oxalate phase. Solvent extractionis selected for Cu removal at a limit of 5 ppm; a 30 % v/v Acorga M5640 in ESCAID is applied for 30 min at 25 ◦C,with θ = 4 and 4 stages. The resulting recycled solution, containing Co, Ni, and Mn, and free from Al, Li, and Cu,represents a promising feedstock for producing NMC 111 (LiNi0.33Mn0.33Co0.33O2).
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier, 2026. Vol. 37, article id 100201
Keywords [en]
Recycling, Oxalic acid, Lithium-ion battery, Hydrometallurgy, Cathode active material
National Category
Metallurgy and Metallic Materials Other Chemical Engineering
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-582775DOI: 10.1016/j.powera.2026.100201ISI: 001668529000001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105027454459OAI: oai:DiVA.org:uu-582775DiVA, id: diva2:2049593
2026-03-302026-03-302026-03-30Bibliographically approved