Recovery of LiCoO2 from Waste Lithium Ion Batteries by Means of Flotation.

In this experiment, lithium cobalt oxide from a waste lithium ion battery (LIB) is recovered by flotation technique. At first, the waste LIB was classified by vertical cutting mill, air table and vibration screen. Referring to the result of a crushing, wasted LIB represented light materials (separator of anode and cathode of battery), metallic materials (aluminum, copper, etc) and electrode materials (a mixture of lithium cobalt oxide and graphite).Electrode materials were thermally treated in a muffle furnace at 773 K, followed by flotation to separate lithium cobalt oxide and graphite. This is due to the fact that the surface of the lithium cobalt oxide particles were changed from hydrophobic to hydrophilic as for the binder removed from the surface at 773 K.Referring to results that more than 97 % lithium cobalt oxide can be recovered from the mixture of 70 wt% lithium cobalt oxide and 30 wt% graphite, prior to the flotation test.Considering the results, 92 % lithium cobalt oxide can be recovered from electrode materials, whereas the purity is higher than 93 % while the optimum conditions where : 0.2 kg / t kerosene, 0.14 kg / t MIBC and 10 % pulp density.