A method of extracting lithium from black mass produced by battery recycling includes analyzing the black mass to determine a type of lithium entrapment, quantifying a carbon content of the black mass, adding oxidizing or reducing reagents based on the type of lithium entrapment, monitoring completion of oxidation or reduction with at least one oxygen sensor providing a delta lambda value, and extracting lithium from the black mass with a solvent.

A technique for processing the black powder materials of spent Li-ion battery cathodes is described. The black powder materials of spent Li-ion battery cathodes are irradiated by high frequency electromagnetic fields. Under the action of mechanical oscillation and temperature rising, the black powder materials of spent Li-ion battery cathodes decompose and recombine. The water-soluble Li-based materials are separated from the metal oxide solids which are insoluble by water washing, and finally the lithium-ion solution and metal oxide solids are obtained. The method uses high frequency electromagnetic fields to irradiate the black powder materials of spent Li-ion battery cathodes and wash the product by water, which has the advantages of green, high efficiency, rapid, etc., and is an important technique of processing spent Li-ion batteries.

A method for obtaining a metal salt from a spent lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery may include contacting a leaching solvent to a portion of the spent lithium-ion battery to form a first dispersion. The first dispersion is heated to a temperature in a range from 50 C. to 90 C. by applying microwave radiation. The temperature of the first dispersion is maintained to be in the range from 50 C. to 90 C. for a period in a range from 10 seconds to 5 minutes by further applying microwave radiation to the heated first dispersion. The first dispersion is filtered to obtain a first filtrate. The first dispersion is then filtered to separate undissolved material from a first filtrate. The undissolved precipitate is dehydrated to obtain the black mass.

A method for recycling a waste lithium-ion secondary battery includes (a) loading an object to be heat-treated, which is at least a part of a waste lithium-ion secondary battery including a positive electrode material, into a heat-treatment furnace, (b) increasing the temperature inside the heat-treatment furnace to a range of 200 C. to 400 C., (c) maintaining the increased temperature, and (d) discharging first powder produced after the completion of the heat treatment of the waste lithium-ion secondary battery, wherein the first powder includes valuable metal powder containing a valuable metal composition of the positive electrode material.

Embodiments described herein relate to methods of recycling battery waste. In some aspects, a method can include applying a first heat treatment at a temperature of between about 100 C. and about 700 C. to the battery waste, the first heat treatment decomposing at least about 80 wt % of the binder, separating the electrode material from the current collector, and applying a second heat treatment at a temperature between about 400 C. and about 1,200 C. to the electrode material to produce a regenerated electrode material, the second heat treatment decomposing at least 90 wt % of binder remaining in the electrode material to produce a regenerated electrode material. In some embodiments, the method can include applying a surface treatment to the electrode material to remove surface coatings and/or surface impurities from the electrode material. In some embodiments, the surface treatment can include applying a solvent to the electrode material.

The present disclosure relates to a method for recovering magnet material from a samarium cobalt, SmCo, magnet, the method comprising: initiating a hydrogen decrepitation process within a reaction vessel, wherein the hydrogen decrepitation process comprises: increasing a concentration of hydrogen in the reaction vessel, and maintaining the reaction vessel at either: a temperature of less than 70 C. and at a pressure of more than 10 bar, or at a temperature of more than 70 C. and at a pressure of less than 5 bar, to cause hydrogen decrepitation of the SmCo magnet disposed in the reaction vessel and produce SmCo-hydride material; and initiating a degasification process within a degasification vessel, wherein the degasification process comprises: removing gas from the degasification vessel and maintaining the degasification vessel at a temperature within a range of 150 C. to 300 C., to de-gas SmCo-hydride material disposed in the degasification vessel and produce SmCo material.

A method and cascade reactor system for producing elemental rare earth metals and rare earth-aluminum alloys via aluminothermic reduction are disclosed. The method involves combining rare earth oxides or halide salts with aluminum powder, initiating a thermite-type reaction under inert or controlled atmospheric conditions, and recovering the molten metal product. Fluxing agents may be used to enhance slag fluidity and phase separation. The cascade reactor comprises multiple thermite zones with staged ignition, thermal transfer mechanisms, and slag separation interfaces, enabling sequential reduction of mixed feedstocks. The system supports both batch and continuous formats and achieves high recovery yields, reduced aluminum contamination, and compatibility with alloying and post-purification processes. The invention is adaptable to individual rare earth species and mixed oxide concentrates, offering a scalable, energy-efficient, and environmentally favorable route to rare earth metal and alloy production.

The present disclosure relates to a non-destructive method of recycling secondary battery electrode materials using a plasma process, and specifically to a method of recycling electrode materials by separating and recovering them from unused lithium secondary batteries. More specifically, the surface of an electrode separated from a lithium secondary battery is treated with plasma and the current collector is separated and recovered with no deformation in a non-destructive manner, and cathode or anode active materials are recovered intactly through an organic solvent treatment step. If necessary, impurities are removed through an additional heat treatment step to increase crystallinity, and thus electrode materials can be recovered in a form capable of being used directly with no additional process and reused for manufacturing lithium secondary batteries.

A method of producing a recycled material includes the following (a) to (d). (a) Preparing a bipolar battery that includes an electrolytic solution and that is sealed. (b) Forming a gas outlet hole on the bipolar battery. (c) Vaporizing at least some of the electrolytic solution by heating the bipolar battery by induction heating. (d) Retrieving the vaporized electrolytic solution from the gas outlet hole.

A method for recovering metals from a metal-containing solution containing nickel ions, lithium ions, and anions of an inorganic acid, the method including: a nickel extraction step including extraction that mixes the metal-containing solution with a solvent while adjusting an equilibrium pH using a pH adjusting agent containing lithium ions, transfers the nickel ions in the metal-containing solution to the solvent, and separates the solvent containing the nickel ions from an extracted solution, wherein in the nickel extraction step, the extraction is carried out under conditions where the total of a lithium ion concentration of the metal-containing solution and a lithium ion concentration of the pH adjusting agent is less than or equal to a lithium ion concentration of a saturated solution of a lithium salt made of the anions of the inorganic acid and the lithium ions contained in the metal-containing solution.