Sustainable Approach for Critical Metals Recovery through Hydrometallurgical Processing of Spent Batteries Using Organic Acids

Recycling is the bottom line to promote the circularity of the materials into the closed loop. Among the Li-ion batteries, the LiCoO2-cathode type is used in a few vehicles but mostly in electric equipment. This study aimed to design a recycling process for LiCoO2-pouch batteries. The entire process was designed using organic acids. The cells were milled and physically separated. Leaching experiments were performed with citric acid. No reducing agent was necessary, and all Co and Li were leached using 1 mol/L of citric acid at 90 °C with a solid–liquid ratio of 1/10 for 2 h. Co was separated using oxalic acid at 50 °C for 30 min in a Co/oxalic acid molar ratio of 1:2. Resynthesis of the cathode was possible, producing a similar material directly from the leach solution, which opens possibilities for the future. The present study fits SDGs 7, 9, 11, 12, and 13.