{
  "node": {
    "id": "term:precipitation",
    "type": "Term",
    "label": "Precipitation",
    "properties": {
      "id": "precipitation",
      "name": "Precipitation",
      "aka": [
        "hydroxide precipitation",
        "carbonate precipitation"
      ],
      "section": "topic-recycling",
      "definition": "Recovering a dissolved metal as a solid by adding a reagent that makes it insoluble — nickel and cobalt as hydroxides, lithium as carbonate with sodium carbonate. Co-precipitating nickel, manganese and cobalt together gives a precursor directly.",
      "related": [
        "solvent-extraction",
        "lithium-recovery",
        "precursor",
        "crystallisation"
      ],
      "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/precipitation/",
      "mentions": [
        "cobalt",
        "manganese"
      ]
    }
  },
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      "id": "edge:4360",
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      "id": "edge:4362",
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      "id": "edge:4363",
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      "target": "term:crystallisation",
      "type": "relatedTo",
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      "id": "edge:mentions/precipitation/cobalt",
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      "id": "edge:4366",
      "source": "term:precipitation",
      "target": "reference:harper-recycling",
      "type": "cites",
      "properties": {
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        "scope": "direct technical reference"
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  "neighbors": [
    {
      "id": "topic:topic-recycling",
      "type": "Topic",
      "label": "Recycling and end of life",
      "properties": {
        "id": "topic-recycling",
        "name": "Recycling and end of life",
        "lede": "What happens to a battery after its first life: reuse, and the recycling routes that recover its materials, step by step.",
        "context": "Distinguish recovered material from a qualified product.",
        "example": "High mass recovery alone does not establish battery-grade purity or refining energy demand.",
        "lesson_url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/fundamentals/cell-production/",
        "lesson_label": "Open process context"
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    {
      "id": "term:solvent-extraction",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Solvent extraction",
      "properties": {
        "id": "solvent-extraction",
        "name": "Solvent extraction",
        "abbr": "SX",
        "aka": [
          "liquid–liquid extraction",
          "Cyanex 272",
          "D2EHPA"
        ],
        "section": "topic-recycling",
        "definition": "Separating metals in the leach liquor by contacting it with an organic phase carrying an extractant that picks up one metal at a time, controlled by pH: manganese, then cobalt, then nickel, leaving lithium in the water. It is how recyclers reach battery-grade sulfates.",
        "related": [
          "leaching",
          "precipitation",
          "crystallisation",
          "hydrometallurgy"
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        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/solvent-extraction/",
        "mentions": [
          "cobalt",
          "manganese"
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    {
      "id": "term:lithium-recovery",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Lithium recovery",
      "properties": {
        "id": "lithium-recovery",
        "name": "Lithium recovery",
        "aka": [
          "early lithium extraction",
          "lithium-first recovery"
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        "section": "topic-recycling",
        "definition": "Getting the lithium back, which smelting loses to slag and older hydrometallurgical flowsheets left until last at low yield. Newer routes take it out first — by roasting or carbonating black mass and washing out a lithium salt — before the other metals are leached.",
        "related": [
          "lithium-carbonate",
          "precipitation",
          "collection-target",
          "pyrometallurgy"
        ],
        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/lithium-recovery/",
        "mentions": [
          "lithium-salt",
          "black-mass",
          "smelting"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "term:precursor",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Precursor cathode active material",
      "properties": {
        "id": "precursor",
        "name": "Precursor cathode active material",
        "abbr": "pCAM",
        "section": "topic-manufacturing",
        "definition": "The mixed nickel–manganese–cobalt hydroxide made by co-precipitation from metal sulfate solutions, before lithium is added. Its particle size and shape are set here and carried through to the finished NMC powder.",
        "related": [
          "cathode-active-material",
          "calcination",
          "nmc",
          "nickel-sulfate"
        ],
        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/precursor/",
        "mentions": [
          "particle-size",
          "cobalt",
          "manganese"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "term:crystallisation",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Crystallisation",
      "properties": {
        "id": "crystallisation",
        "name": "Crystallisation",
        "aka": [
          "evaporative crystallisation",
          "nickel sulfate crystallisation"
        ],
        "section": "topic-recycling",
        "definition": "Evaporating a purified solution until a battery-grade salt crystallises out — nickel sulfate, cobalt sulfate, lithium hydroxide — ready to be sold back to precursor and cathode plants.",
        "related": [
          "solvent-extraction",
          "nickel-sulfate",
          "lithium-hydroxide",
          "precursor"
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        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/crystallisation/",
        "mentions": [
          "cathode",
          "cobalt"
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      }
    },
    {
      "id": "term:cobalt",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Cobalt",
      "properties": {
        "id": "cobalt",
        "name": "Cobalt",
        "section": "topic-sustainability",
        "definition": "The metal that stabilises layered-oxide cathodes, mined largely in the Democratic Republic of Congo under scrutiny for working conditions. Its price and ethics have driven the industry from LCO and NMC111 towards high-nickel and cobalt-free LFP.",
        "related": [
          "nmc",
          "lco",
          "high-nickel",
          "critical-raw-materials",
          "due-diligence"
        ],
        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/cobalt/",
        "mentions": []
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "term:manganese",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Manganese",
      "properties": {
        "id": "manganese",
        "name": "Manganese",
        "aka": [
          "manganese sulfate",
          "high-purity manganese sulfate",
          "HPMSM"
        ],
        "section": "topic-sustainability",
        "definition": "A cheap, abundant metal used in NMC, LMO and LMFP positive electrodes and in alkaline cells. Ore comes mostly from South Africa, Gabon and Australia, but about 95 % of battery-grade high-purity manganese sulfate was refined in China in 2024, which puts manganese on critical-raw-material lists despite plentiful reserves.",
        "related": [
          "nmc",
          "lmo",
          "lmfp",
          "critical-raw-materials",
          "cobalt",
          "nickel-sulfate"
        ],
        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/manganese/",
        "mentions": []
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "reference:harper-recycling",
      "type": "Reference",
      "label": "Recycling lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles",
      "properties": {
        "title": "Recycling lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles",
        "publisher": "Nature",
        "url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1682-5",
        "type": "Review article",
        "scope": "Reuse, disassembly and mechanical, hydro-, pyro- and direct recycling routes.",
        "year": 2019,
        "authors": [
          "Gavin Harper et al."
        ],
        "accessed": "2026-10-27"
      }
    }
  ]
}