Characterization and recycling of lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide type spent mobile phone batteries based on mineral processing technology

The unprecedented increase in mobile phone spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) in recent times has become a major concern for the global community. The focus of current research is the development of recycling systems for LIBs, but one key area that has not been given enough attention is the use of pre-treatment steps to increase overall recovery. A mechanical process combined with gravity, magnetic separation, and flotation was developed to recover metals and plastics. The results of the enrichment experiments in the coarse fraction showed that plastics with natural hydrophobicity could be obtained by reverse flotation. In the presence of hydrogen peroxide, sulfuric acid leaching was subjected to the black mass for recovering Li, Co, Ni, and Mn. The dissolution conditions were optimized by changing leaching parameters. The dissolution efficiencies of 96% Co, 94% Ni, 95% Mn, and 98% Li were achieved with 2 M H₂SO₄ concentration, 60 °C temperature, 2 h leaching time, and 40 g/L H₂O₂ dosage. In the precipitation step, NaOH was added to the leachate to increase the pH, and Co and Ni were partially separated from Mn at pH 7.7. The proposed flowsheet is basic and highly effective for the complementary recycling of components in Li-ion batteries.