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A Sustainable Oxalate Process for Recovery of Metals from LiCoO2: Experimental and Modeling Study

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Ni-Co 2021: The 5th International Symposium on Nickel and Cobalt

Part of the book series: The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series ((MMMS))

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Abstract

Green and sustainable recycling of lithium-ion batteries is an important problem that requires immediate attention to meet the rapid growth in critical materials demand for the electric vehicle (EV) market. In this work, a holistic study is presented to develop a closed-loop Li and Co metal recovery and separation process for LiCoO2 electrode materials using oxalate chemistry. More than 97% of Co and Li extraction and almost complete separation between these metals were found in the digestion using oxalic acid at a concentration of 0.46 M, a solid-to-liquid ratio of 15 g/L, agitator speed of 600 rpm, and a temperature of 100 °C. An optimum pH of about 2.5 was identified to achieve efficient extraction and separation between Li and Co. A novel oxalic acid regeneration process using ion-exchange resins is proposed to recover oxalate, reduce waste production, and lower the overall cost of the process. The experimental results are supported with a chemical speciation study and a shrinking core model based kinetic study to develop a deeper understanding of the interfacial processes.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Sustainable Engineering, University of Kansas, 1530 W. 15th St., Lawrence, KS, 66045, USA

    Ankit Verma & Mark B. Shiflett

  2. Center for Environmentally Beneficial Catalysis, University of Kansas, 1501 Wakarusa Dr., Lawrence, KS, 66047, USA

    Ankit Verma, David R. Corbin & Mark B. Shiflett

Authors
  1. Ankit Verma
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  2. David R. Corbin
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  3. Mark B. Shiflett
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mark B. Shiflett .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, USA

    Corby Anderson

  2. XPS- Glencore, Falconbridge, ON, Canada

    Graeme Goodall

  3. Air-Liquide, Newark, DE, USA

    Sumedh Gostu

  4. RHI Magnesita, Leoben, Austria

    Dean Gregurek

  5. Aalto University, ESPOO, Finland

    Mari Lundström

  6. Helmholtz Institute for Resource Technology, Frieberg, Germany

    Christina Meskers

  7. Gopher Resource, Brisbane, QLD, USA

    Stuart Nicol

  8. Boliden Harjavalta, Harjavalta, Finland

    Esa Peuraniemi

  9. Abo Akademi University, Turku, Finland

    Fiseha Tesfaye

  10. Batelle Energy Alliance (Idaho National Laboratory), Idaho Falls, ID, USA

    Prabhat K. Tripathy

  11. Rio Tinto Kennecott Utah Copper Corp, Riverton, UT, USA

    Shijie Wang

  12. Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China

    Yuanbo Zhang

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Verma, A., Corbin, D.R., Shiflett, M.B. (2021). A Sustainable Oxalate Process for Recovery of Metals from LiCoO2: Experimental and Modeling Study. In: Anderson, C., et al. Ni-Co 2021: The 5th International Symposium on Nickel and Cobalt. The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65647-8_12

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