Effect of Hydrogen Peroxide on the Recovery of Valuable Metals from Spent LiNi<sub>0.6</sub>Co<sub>0.2</sub>Mn<sub>0.2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> Batteries
Xiangyu Cheng, Guanghui Guo, Yukun Cheng, Mingxiu Liu, Jiaxing Ji
Abstract
Considering the increasing price of raw materials and environmental pollution, the recycling of used lithium battery cathode materials has very important economic and environmental value. In this experiment, a green recycling method is used to recover valuable metals from spent LiNi 0.6 Co 0.2 Mn 0.2 O 2 batteries using DL‐malic acid and H 2 O 2 as a leaching system. The effects of reaction temperature, acid concentration, H 2 O 2 volume concentration, reaction time, and solid–liquid ratio on the leaching efficiency are investigated by orthogonal and single variable condition experiments. Under the optimum conditions, the leaching efficiencies of Ni, Co, Mn, and Li are 96.2%, 97.1%, 97.6%, and 98.1%, respectively, while the leaching efficiency of Al is only 3.5%. The effect of H 2 O 2 on the leaching process is further investigated by macroscopic characterization and kinetic analysis. The study indicates that the leaching process is controlled by a chemical reaction in the absence of H 2 O 2 , and the leaching process after the addition of H 2 O 2 is controlled by the chemical reaction process and the diffusion process.