High-Performance Recovery of Cobalt and Nickel from the Cathode Materials of NMC Type Li-Ion Battery by Complexation-Assisted Solvent Extraction

The annual global volume of waste lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has been increasing over years. Although solvent extraction method seems well developed, the separation factor between cobalt and nickel is still relatively low—only 72 when applying conventional continuous-countercurrent extraction. In this study, we improved the separation factor of cobalt and nickel by complexation-assisted solvent extraction. Before solvent extraction procedure, leaching kinetic of Li, Ni, Co and Mn was studied and can be explained by the Avrami equation. Leached residues were also investigated by SEM and XRD. Operation parameters of complexation-assisted solvent extraction were examined, including volume ratio of extractant to diluent, types of diluent, type of complexing reagent, extractant saponification percentage and volume ratio of organic phase to aqueous phase. The optimal separation factor of complexation-assisted solvent extraction could be improved to 372, which is five times that of conventional solvent extraction. The separation tendency would be interpreted by the relationship between extraction equilibrium pH and log distribution coefficient.