Fruit waste-derived lixiviant: A viable green chemical for lithium-ion battery recycling

Fruit peel discards from various sources are harnessed as a renewable waste biomass feedstock for lithium-ion battery (LIB) recycling, showcasing the potential for green chemical production. Extractive methods, including hot water treatment, ultrasonic-assisted hydrolysis, and fermentation, produce a fruit peel-derived lixiviant (FL) to extract valuable metals from industrial-grade spent LIB black mass. The FL obtained through fermentation using various fruit peels (e.g. orange, mango, papaya, honeydew, lemon, and pomelo) could effectively leach more than 90% of cobalt and lithium from LCO black mass, without the need for synthetic chemicals. Additionally, the use of oxalate precipitation could recover the leached cobalt ions from orange peel-derived FL at a high yield of around 85%. The cathode material regenerated from cobalt precipitate coupled with LiOH supplementation exhibits excellent electrochemical performance with a capacity retention of 93% after 140 cycles. Overall, this proposed method of using FL-enabled LIB recycling offers a significant new opportunity for a more resource-efficient circular and sustainable economy.