Electrolytic cobalt recovery from lithium-ion batteries

摘要

The studied process deals with cobalt electrolytic recovery from Li-ion batteries by means of both galvanostatic and potentiostatic electrowinning. The use of galvanostatic conditions allows to obtain a good Co metal deposit, while potentiostatic conditions provide a cobalt depletion in the electrolyte. The last operation is very interesting because the produced Co powder is transformed at 300℃ in Co_3O_4 precursor with Li_2CO_3 for the Lithium Cobalt Oxide cathode material. In this case we have not only a recovery of Co but also a true recycle of the cathode active paste.