The present invention refers to an improved process for recovering zinc from primary and secondary raw materials, said process comprising a first leaching step wherein the ratio between the zinc weight contained in the raw material and the volume of the leaching solution is at least 20 kg zinc per m.sup.3 of acid aqueous solution; a neutralization step; and a solvent extraction stage in the presence of organic extractant, wherein the temperature is maintained from 47 to 52 C.

A method of manufacturing a cobalt-nickel-containing solution including: preparing a crude nickel hydroxide and/or a crude cobalt hydroxide as a starting material, the crude nickel or cobalt hydroxide containing cobalt and nickel and elements except the cobalt and nickel as impurities, the crude nickel hydroxide containing the nickel more than the cobalt, and the crude cobalt hydroxide containing the cobalt more than the nickel; a water-washing process for obtaining a post-water-washing crude hydroxide from the starting material; a leaching process for obtaining a post-leaching solution from the post-water-washing crude hydroxide; a neutralization process of subjecting the post-leaching solution to neutralization and solid-liquid-separation to remove the impurities as a post-neutralization residue containing one or more of iron, silicon, aluminum, and chromium, thereby obtaining a post-neutralization solution; and an extraction process of subjecting the post-neutralization solution to solvent extraction to obtain a post-extraction solution containing cobalt and nickel with the impurities reduced.

A method of manufacturing a cobalt-nickel-containing solution including: preparing a crude nickel hydroxide and/or a crude cobalt hydroxide as a starting material, the crude nickel or cobalt hydroxide containing cobalt and nickel and elements except the cobalt and nickel as impurities, the crude nickel hydroxide containing the nickel more than the cobalt, and the crude cobalt hydroxide containing the cobalt more than the nickel; a water-washing process for obtaining a post-water-washing crude hydroxide from the starting material; a leaching process for obtaining a post-leaching solution from the post-water-washing crude hydroxide; a neutralization process of subjecting the post-leaching solution to neutralization and solid-liquid-separation to remove the impurities as a post-neutralization residue containing one or more of iron, silicon, aluminum, and chromium, thereby obtaining a post-neutralization solution; and an extraction process of subjecting the post-neutralization solution to solvent extraction to obtain a post-extraction solution containing cobalt and nickel with the impurities reduced.

A method for recovering neodecanoic acid or a phosphonate ester-based extractant from an aqueous solution containing the neodecanoic acid or the phosphonate ester-based extractant, wherein an equilibrium pH is 5.5 or less when the neodecanoic acid or the phosphonate ester-based extractant is recovered.

A method for recovering neodecanoic acid or a phosphonate ester-based extractant from an aqueous solution containing the neodecanoic acid or the phosphonate ester-based extractant, wherein an equilibrium pH is 5.5 or less when the neodecanoic acid or the phosphonate ester-based extractant is recovered.

Flexible processes and systems for recovering manganese (Mn), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni) as a purified co-precipitated product or alternatively independent products, from a lithium-ion battery waste stream are provided. The process may include upstream leaching and impurity removal prior to separation in a metal recovery system that may include a manganese (Mn) recovery unit to generate a manganese (Mn)-containing product, a cobalt (Co) recovery unit to generate a cobalt (Co)-containing product or a nickel (Ni) recovery unit to generate a nickel (Ni)-containing product or alternatively and optionally may include a co-precipitator unit to form a co-precipitated product. A lithium (Li) recovery unit may further process a portion of the waste liquid stream to form a lithium (Li)-containing product.

Provided herein is a nickel recovering method, comprising: (A-i) a reduction heat treatment process for thermally treating a first raw material containing nickel and lithium; (B) a first leaching process for leaching the heat-treated product produced by the reduction heat treatment process; (A-ii) a roasting process for thermally treating a second raw material containing nickel and sulfur; (C) a second leaching process for leaching the first leaching residue produced by the first leaching process and calcine produced by the roasting process; (D) a neutralization process for neutralizing the second leachate produced by the second leaching process; (E) a purification process for removing impurities contained in the neutralized solution produced by the neutralization process; and (F) a reduction process for performing a hydrogen reduction method on the purified solution produced by the purification process to recover nickel from the purified solution.

The invention relates to an integrated method for trivalent actinides and lanthanides separation and trivalent actinides mutual separation, which comprises: adjusting the pH value of a solution containing trivalent lanthanide and actinide ions to an appropriate value, wherein the actinide ions include americium ions and curium ions; adding an aqueous phase complexing agent, the solution is contacted with the organic phase of an extractant containing alkyl or aryl dithiophosphonic acid and nitrogen containing reagents, and actinides is extracted into the organic phase. The loaded organic phase containing actinide ions was washed by an aqueous phase with a certain pH value. The loaded organic phase is stripped with an aqueous phase of a certain pH value, and the curium ion is stripped into the aqueous phase to achieve the separation of americium and curium. The organic phase is then contacted with dilute nitric acid solution, and the americium ion in the organic phase is stripped into the aqueous phase. The invention can significantly improve the separation factor of americium and curium and reduce the operating pH value. And within the same system, the separation of trivalent actinides and trivalent lanthanides, as well as the mutual separation of trivalent actinides can be realized simultaneously through extraction and stepwise stripping, simplifying the separation process and improving separation efficiency.

The present invention provides a method of using a wet method to recycle metal elements in lithium batteries, including the following steps: Step 1, pretreating lithium batteries, so as to obtain a mixture of powders containing positive-electrode materials; Step 2, acid leaching to obtain leachate; Step 3, if the to-be-recycled lithium battery contain a lithium iron phosphate battery, the solid products, obtained after acid leaching and solid-liquid filtration, are heated in an oxygen-containing atmosphere, so as to burn up carbon, then the left is ferric phosphate; Step 4, if the to-be-recycled lithium battery contains a ternary lithium battery, the leachate, obtained after acid leaching and solid-liquid filtration, is sent to an extraction step, wherein diisooctyl phosphate is used as extraction agent, so as to obtain a raffinate containing Li element and an organic phase containing Ni/Co/Mn elements.

Provided are a separation recovery method of metal ions and an acidic metal extractant used in the separation recovery method. The separation recovery method includes: extracting and separating two or more kinds of metal ions belonging to different groups by mixing a water phase and an oil phase with each other, the water phase including two or more kinds of metal ions belonging to different groups among metal ions belonging to Groups 9 and 10 of the fourth to sixth periods in a periodic table, and the oil phase including an acidic metal extractant having two or more coordinating functional groups selected from a carboxy group, a phosphate group, a phosphonate group, a sulfonate group, and a sulfinate group.