Battery driven automobiles are quickly gaining popularity. One of thepopular types of batteries for these vehicles is the Li-ion with varyingchemistries. The growing usage of these batteries, at the end of their lifehave little infrastructure to be handled or recycled. As the previous cobaltchemistries are now being replaced by other cheaper chemistries, theincentive and hence the motivation to recycle these batteries is presentlyscant. The motivation for recycling Li-ion batteries can be strengthenedwhen seen from the resource and environmental perspective rather thanjust an economic one, at least until the number of end of life batteriesreach a significant number -which is bound to happen in the comingyears. Recyling helps reduce the environmental effects of virgin metalextractions and tackle the problem of improper disposal of end-of-lifebatteries. When and if recycling is done with the objective of recoveringpure streams of the involved metals, it will become an economically,environmentally and resource-wise a rewarding process to the end-of-lifeLi-ion batteries or any other product. Some of the metals in a Li-ionbattery other than Li and Co are, Fe, Ni, Mn, which are in the black-massi.e., the the electrochemically active metal containing fraction of thebatteries. In addition Al and, Cu are present as pure metal foils that serveas current collectors and are attached to the black mass. Solventextraction was chosen to achieve separation and recovery of metals withhigher purity from these leachates. In the scope of the present work, ascreening study for the separation of Li(I), Ni(II), Mn(II),Co(II) from sulfateleachate using both acidic and solvating extractants was made. Solventextraction was chosen to achieve separation and recovery of metals withhigher purity from these leachates. The separation studies that weremade with acidic extractant were made with respect to pH and extractantconcentration and studies with solvating extractant were made withrespect to sulfate concentration and extractant concentration.
展开▼
