Battery recycling
AssigneeThe University of Birmingham
InventorsLaura Louise Driscoll, Peter Raymond Slater, Paul Alexander Anderson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method (2800) of selectively leaching one or more manganese-containing phases from a mixed-phase battery electrode material comprises treating (2802) the mixed-phase battery electrode material with a solution of an acid, the acid acting as both a leaching agent and a reducing agent, so as to form a manganese-containing leachate whilst leaving at least one phase of the battery electrode material unleached, wherein the acid has a pKa greater than or equal to −2. Either or both of the leachate and the remaining electrode material may then be regenerated (2806, 2808).
Claims21
1-28. (canceled)
A method of selectively leaching one or more manganese-containing phases from a mixed-phase battery electrode material, the method comprising:
- treating the mixed-phase battery electrode material with a solution of an acid, the acid acting as both a leaching agent and a reducing agent, so as to form a manganese-containing leachate whilst leaving at least one phase of the battery electrode material unleached, wherein the acid has a pKa greater than or equal to −2.
A battery material regeneration method for resynthesizing a layered oxide with a composition of XNixMnyCozO2 (XNMC) or XNixCoyAlzO2 (XNCA) from a battery cathode, where X is Na, Li, or a mixture of the two, the method comprising:
- obtaining an XNMC- or XNCA-containing electrode material from the battery cathode;
- combining the material with an OH− source, and heating the mixture to form a precipitate of NMC(OH)2 or NCA(OH)2, as appropriate, with X going into solution;
- extracting and drying the NMC(OH)2 or NCA(OH)2 precipitate;
- grinding the precipitate with a gravimetrically-determined stoichiometric amount of a carbonate or hydroxide of X;
- and
- heating the resultant powder to resynthesize XNMC or XNCA.
A lithium-ion and/or sodium-ion battery recycling method comprising:
- obtaining battery electrode material, the battery electrode material comprising multiple phases at least one of which is manganese-containing;
- treating the battery electrode material with a solution of an acid with pKa greater than or equal to ˜2, the acid acting as both a leaching agent and a reducing agent so as to form a manganese-containing leachate whilst leaving at least one phase of the battery electrode material unleached,
- wherein the battery electrode material is exposed to the acid solution for a period of less than twenty minutes;
- draining off the leachate;
- and
- regenerating at least one unleached phase.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.