Solvent extraction

Example

Use in Lemonergy

Distinguish recovered material from a qualified product.

This is a reference concept. No executable Lemonergy block has been verified for this term.

Connected concepts

Related concepts from the knowledge graph. Connections show context, not cause and effect. Hover or focus a linked term for its definition.

Crystallisation

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.

Hydrometallurgy

Recycling by dissolving black mass in acid and separating the metals as salts by precipitation and solvent extraction. It recovers lithium and gives battery-grade products, at the cost of chemical consumption and wastewater.

Leaching

Dissolving the metals in black mass, usually in sulfuric acid with hydrogen peroxide as a reducing agent so cobalt and manganese go into solution as their more soluble lower oxidation state. The leach liquor carries lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese, plus impurities such as copper and aluminium.

Precipitation

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.

References & further reading

Technical references

1. Recycling lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles

   Gavin Harper et al. · Nature · 2019

   Technical reference · Reuse, disassembly and mechanical, hydro-, pyro- and direct recycling routes.

Further reading on this topic

These sources provide broader context; they are not presented as citations for every statement in this entry.

2. Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling

   U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

   Topic background · Battery construction, recycling routes and U.S. waste-management context.