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Recycling of Spent LiFePO4 Battery by Iron Sulfate Roasting-Leaching Method

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Abstract

Valuable metals have been efficiently recovered from spent lithium iron phosphate batteries by employing a process involving via iron sulfate roasting, selective leaching, and stepwise chemical precipitation. This study proposes the selective extraction of lithium from LiFePO4 using the iron sulfate roasting-leaching method. The roasting process parameters were optimized, and the optimum roasting parameters were: Fe2(SO4)3/LiFePO4 molar ratio of 1:2, roasting temperature of 450 °C, roasting time of 5 h, at this time, the leaching rate of Li can reach 98.53%. Fe was separated using the NaOH + H2O2 system by controlling the pH, and FePO4 was recovered using the precipitation method. The mother liquor was concentrated and maintained at a temperature of approximately 90 °C, and then a saturated sodium carbonate solution was added to precipitate Li2CO3. The recovery of Li was 82%, and the purity of Li2CO3 was approximately 95%.

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Acknowledgements

This paper was supervised by Liu Qingsheng throughout the experiment and writing processes. Teacher Liu provided guidance and support by inquiring about the research process, identifying areas of confusion, and stimulating new ideas. I am grateful for his valuable assistance.

Funding

This study was funded by the National Key R&D Plan for the 13th Five Year Plan (2018YFC1903405).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Metallurgy and Chemistry, Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, Ganzhou, 341000, Jiangxi, China

    Qiqi Wen & Qing-sheng Liu

  2. Faculty of Materials Metallurgy and Chemistry, Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, Ganzhou, 341000, Jiangxi, China

    Qing-sheng Liu

Authors
  1. Qiqi Wen
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  2. Qing-sheng Liu
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Contributions

Corresponding author: Among the authors in the list, teacher QL as the cooperation teacher of this study, who provided guidance and support by inquiring about the research process, identifying areas of confusion, and stimulating new ideas. First author: This paper was written by QW, she independently completed the study design and data analysis, and took the lead in writing the paper.

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Correspondence to Qing-sheng Liu.

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The contributing editor for this article was Nikhil Dhawan.

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Wen, Q., Liu, Qs. Recycling of Spent LiFePO4 Battery by Iron Sulfate Roasting-Leaching Method. J. Sustain. Metall. 9, 1679–1690 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40831-023-00757-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40831-023-00757-3

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