Highly Efficient Recovery and Recycling of Cobalt from Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries Using an N-Methylurea-Acetamide Nonionic Deep Eutectic Solvent

Abstract

The growing demand for lithium-ion batteries (LiBs) for the electronic and automobile industries combined with the limited availability of key metal components, in particular cobalt, drives the need for efficient methods for the recovery and recycling of these materials from battery waste. Herein, we introduce a novel and efficient approach for the extraction of cobalt, and other metal components, from spent LiBs using a nonionic deep eutectic solvent (ni-DES) comprised of N-methylurea and acetamide under relatively mild conditions. Cobalt could be recovered from lithium cobalt oxide-based LiBs with an extraction efficiency of >97% and used to fabricate new batteries. The N-methylurea was found to act as both a solvent component and a reagent, the mechanism of which was elucidated.