The present disclosure discloses a recycling method for a mixed waste material of lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (LNMCO) and lithium iron phosphate (LFP), including: conducting acid-leaching to obtain an acid-leaching liquor with nickel, cobalt, manganese, phosphorus, iron, and lithium; conducting adsorption separation with a resin, washing the resin with sulfuric acid to obtain a mixed solution of nickel sulfate, cobalt sulfate, and manganese sulfate, and subjecting the mixed solution to precipitation to obtain an LNMCO cathode material precursor; and subjecting an obtained solution with phosphorus, iron, and lithium to lithium precipitation to obtain a lithium salt precipitate, and subjecting a post-precipitation solution to concentration and electrospinning to obtain a ferric phosphate/carbon material. The process of the present disclosure can achieve comprehensive recycling of a mixed waste material of LNMCO and LFP and the directed circulation of waste LNMCO and LFP materials.

Single-stage and multi-stage systems and methods for the recovery of critical elements in substantially pure form from lithium ion batteries are provided. The systems and methods include supported membrane solvent extraction using an immobilized organic phase within the pores of permeable hollow fibers. The permeable hollow fibers are contacted by a feed solution on one side, and a strip solution on another side, to provide the simultaneous extraction and stripping of elements from dissolved lithium ion cathode materials, while rejecting other elements from the feed solution. The single- and multi-stage systems and methods can selectively recover cobalt, manganese, nickel, lithium, aluminum and other elements from spent battery cathodes and are not limited by equilibrium constraints as compared to traditional solvent extraction processes.

Valuable metal compounds and a useful by-product are recovered, with high yield, from lithium-ion battery waste, without otherwise generating effluent. One or more metal sulfate solution may be used to scrub the metals from organic extractants. The sulfates may be produced in one or more evaporation/crystallization units downstream from precipitation and dissolution units. An organic extractant may be used to extract a metal of interest and other metals from feed material, scrub the other metals from the organic extractant, strip the metal of interest from the organic extractant, and recycle the extractant. An evaporation/crystallization unit may be used to output the metal of interest, while a return line transports a metal sulfate mother liquor from the evaporation/crystallization unit (after hydroxide precipitation and dissolution for purification) for use in scrubbing the other metals from the organic extractant after pH and metal concentration adjustment.

A process is disclosed for the recovery of valuable metals from oxidic ores, in particular from polymetallic nodules. The process is suitable for the recovery of Cu, Co, Ni, Fe, and Mn, which are the main metals of interest in such polymetallic nodules. The present process is, among others, characterized by the handling of Fe, which is dissolved and kept in solution until the step of crystallization rather than removed at an earlier stage. A mixed Mn—Fe residue is obtained, which, after thermal treatment, provides a Mn—Fe oxide that is suitable for the steel or for the manganese industry. Excellent Cu, Co and Ni yields are obtained, while Fe is leached and valorized together with Mn.

A method for recovering lithium according to this invention comprises separating sodium from a lithium-containing solution containing lithium ions and sodium ions to recover lithium, wherein the method comprises a solvent extraction step including: at least three-stage extraction process having a first extraction process, a second extraction process, and a third extraction process; and a lithium back extraction stage of back extracting the lithium ions from a solvent that have undergone the at least three-stage extraction process; and wherein, in the extraction process, the solvent undergoes the first extraction process, the second extraction process, and the third extraction process in this order, and a solution as the lithium-containing solution undergoes the respective processes in opposite order to the order of the solvent.

The invention concerns a process for the recovery of metals such as Ni and Co from a Li-containing starting material.

In particular, this process concerns the recovery of metals M from a Li-containing starting material, wherein M comprises Ni and Co, comprising the steps of:

Step 1: Providing said starting material, comprising Li-ion batteries or their derived products;
Step 2: Removing Li in an amount of more than the maximum of (1) 30% of the Li present in said starting material, and (2) a percentage of the Li present in said starting material determined to obtain a Li:M ratio of less than 0.70 in a subsequent acidic leaching step;
Step 3: Subsequent leaching using relative amounts of Li-depleted product and a mineral acid, thereby obtaining a Ni- and Co-bearing solution; and,
Step 4: Crystallization of Ni, Co, and optionally Mn.

Due to the lower reagent consumption and higher Ni and/or Co concentration during hydrometallurgical processing, the invention is an efficient and economic process for the production of crystals suitable for battery material production.

The present disclosure concerns the production of precursor compounds for lithium battery cathodes.

Batteries or their scrap are smelted in reducing conditions, thereby forming an alloy suitable for further hydrometallurgical refining, and a slag. The alloy is leached in acidic conditions, producing a Ni- and Co-bearing solution, which is refined.

The refining steps are greatly simplified as most elements susceptible to interfere with the refining steps concentrate in the slag. Metals such as Co, Ni and Mn are then precipitated from the solution, forming a suitable starting product for the synthesis of new battery precursor compounds.

A method of processing copper and nickel sulfide materials, including oxidizing torrefaction of a material to obtain cinder, leaching the cinder with a cycling solution, separating a leaching residue, and electro-extraction of copper from a leaching solution. The cinder and particulates generated by the torrefaction are separately leached. The particulates are leached in a cycling copper raffinate together with a separated portion of solution from a cinder processing line, the separated portion consisting of a portion of solution provided to the leaching after electro-extraction of copper. Particulates leaching residue is separated. Copper is extracted by solvent extraction from a particulates leaching solution, followed by separate electro-extraction of copper from a circulating re-extract. Then, a portion of the raffinate is separated to be forwarded to a nickel production process.

Process for the recovery of transition metal from spent lithium ion batteries containing nickel, wherein said process comprises the steps of (a) heating a lithium containing transition metal oxide material to a temperature in the range of from 200 to 900° C. in the presence of H.sub.2, (b) treatment of the product obtained in step (a) with an aqueous medium, (c) solid-solid separation for the removal of Ni from the solid residue of step (b), (d) recovery of Li as hydroxide or salt from the solution obtained in step (b), (e) extraction of Ni and, if applicable, Co from the solid Ni-concentrate obtained in step (c).

The invention relates to hydrometallurgical method for recovering metals from spent energy storage devices. The method comprises combining aqueous hydrobromic acid leach solution and an electrode material of spent energy storage devices in a reaction vessel, dissolving the metals contained in the electrode material to form soluble metal bromide salts, removing elemental bromine, if formed, from the reaction vessel, separating insoluble material, if present, from the leach solution to obtain a metal-bearing solution and isolating one or more metals from said metal-bearing solution.