Hydrometallurgical Strategy To Reduce Waste through the Recycling of Lithium Iron Phosphate Batteries

Abstract

Batteries with LiFePO4 as active material stand out due to the absence of critical materials, such as nickel and cobalt, thermal stability, and security. In the next years, high volumes of LFP batteries will reach their end of life, and overall material recovery will contribute to meeting the Li demand and reducing the CO2 footprint. Recovery of 97% of plastics and 85.3% graphite prevented materials from burning in furnaces and reduced the CO2 footprint from recycling. Leaching cathode active material using H2SO4 without H2O2 resulted in active material leaching with reduced metallic foil solubilization and less reagent consumption. Redirecting H2O2 consumption to Fe removal by precipitation, combined with ion exchange columns at 25 °C, successfully deepened Fe purification from solution. Precipitation of Al recovered 15.3% as an Al(OH)3 coproduct. After evaporation in a real solution, 72.2% of Li was precipitated as Li2CO3, contributing to increasing the recycling share in the Li supply.