Recycling

Batteries

With the increasing use of mobile and cordless electronics, the disposal of spent batteries has also risen considerably. Batteries contain toxic metals such as Li, Co, Ni, Cd, Mn, Zn, and organic components (e.g. ethylene carbonate, dimethyl carbonate, diethyl carbonate). Thus, spent batteries pose a disposal hazard if discarded in the environment or landfills.

In general, the recycling processes of spent batteries can be divided into two stages: pretreatment and metal extraction. Pretreatment combines various physical separation methods (size reduction, gravity separation, magnetic separation, and froth flotation), essential for beneficiation recycling. The products of the pretreatment circuit would be fed to different metallurgical processes (pyrometallurgy or hydrometallurgy) to recover the specific elements from separated parts (metal extraction). In other words, the performance of the pretreatment circuit would affect the overall recycling process efficiency, and optimising each part of the pretreatment flowsheet would minimise the losses of valuable elements in the tailing stream.

WISE Project

As an experimental project, we will synthesize new biodegradable materials for flotation separation, which will be key to recycling valuable materials from spent lithium-ion batteries (LiBs). One of the main challenges in recycling LiBs is the separation of graphite from Li-bearing materials. The main goal of this project is to conduct a robust study on the design and synthesis of new green biodegradable depressants (enhance hydrophilicity) to improve the flotation separation efficiency of Li-bearing from graphite.

Publications

Recycling spent lithium batteries – an overview of pretreatment flowsheet development based on metallurgical factors. External link.

Mechanical and Ultrasonic Pretreatments for Efficient Peeling of Metal Foils from Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries External link.

Surface properties of LiBs’ electrode active materials as key factors for the flotation recycling–A comprehensive review External link.

Influence of pretreatments on the surface charge of anode and cathode materials in spent lithium-ion batteries - a key point for recycling External link.

Recovery of Copper and Aluminum from Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries by Froth Flotation: A Sustainable Approach External link.

Bioleaching for Recovery of Metals from Spent Batteries – A Review External link.

Contact Person

Saeed Chehreh Chelgani External link.