• Clean Technology
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.28-36
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• 2024

As demand for electric vehicles increases, the market for lithium-ion batteries is also rapidly increasing. The battery life of lithium-ion batteries is limited, so waste lithium-ion batteries are inevitably generated. Accordingly, lithium was selectively preleached from waste lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO₄, hereafter referred to as the LFP) cathode material powder among lithium ion batteries, and iron phosphate (FePO₄) powder was recovered. The recovered iron phosphate powder was mixed with alkaline sodium carbonate (Na₂CO₃) powder and heat treated to confirm its crystalline phase. The heat treatment temperature was set as a variable, and then the leaching rate and powder characteristics of each ingredient were compared after water leaching using Di-water. In this study, lithium showed a leaching rate of approximately 100%, and in the case of powder heat-treated at 800 ℃, phosphorus was leached by approximately 99%, and the leaching residue was confirmed to be a single crystal phase of Fe₂O₃. Therefore, in this study, lithium, phosphorus, and iron components were individually separated and recovered from waste LFP powder.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.40-48
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• 2022

In waste lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, the cathode material contains approximately 4% lithium. Recycling the constituent elements of batteries is important for resource circulation and for mitigating the environmental pollution. Li contained in the waste LFP cathode powder was selectively leached using persulfate-based oxidizing agents, such as sodium persulfate, potassium persulfate, and ammonium persulfate. Leaching efficiency and waste LFP powder properties were compared and analyzed. Pulp density was used as a variable during leaching, which was performed for 3 h under each condition. The leaching efficiency was calculated using the inductively coupled plasma (ICP) analysis of the leachate. All types of persulfate-based oxidizing agents used in this study showed a Li leaching efficiency over 92%. In particular, when leaching was performed using (NH₄)₂S₂O₈, the highest Li leaching percentage of 93.3% was observed, under the conditions of 50 g/L pulp density and an oxidizing agent concentration of 1.1 molar ratio.

• Clean Technology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.87-94
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• 2023

The recovery of valuable metals from waste lithium-based secondary batteries is very important in terms of efficiently utilizing earth's limited number of resources. Currently, the cathode material of a LiFePO₄ battery, a type of battery which is widely used in automobiles, contains approximately 5% lithium. After use, the lithium in these batteries can be used again as a raw material for new batteries through lithium recycling. In this study, low-concentration sulfuric acid, a commonly used type of inorganic acid, was used to selectively leach the lithium contained in a waste LiFePO₄ cathode material powder. In addition, in order to compare and analyze the leaching efficiency and separation efficiency of each component, the optimalleaching conditions were derived by applying a two-step leaching process with pulp density being used as a variable during leaching. When leaching with pulp density as a variable, it was confirmed that at a pulp density of 200 g/L, the separation efficiency was approximately 200 times higher than at other pulp densities because the iron and phosphorus components were hardly leached at this pulp density. Accordingly, the pulp density of 200 g/L was used tooptimize the leaching conditions for the selective leaching and recovery of lithium.