Battery recycling with electrolysis of the leach to remove copper impurities

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2022013820-A1
Application number	US-201917309010-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Oct 8, 2019
Priority date	Oct 15, 2018
Publication date	Jan 13, 2022
Grant date	—

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a process for the recovery of transition metals from batteries comprising treating a transition metal material with a leaching agent to yield a leach which contains dissolved copper impurities, and depositing the dissolved copper impurities as elemental copper on a particulate deposition cathode by electrolysis of an electrolyte containing the leach.

First claim

1 - 17 . (canceled)

18 . A process for the recovery of transition metals from batteries comprising
(a) treating a transition metal material from batteries with a leaching agent to yield a leach, wherein the leach comprises dissolved copper impurities, and (b) depositing the dissolved copper impurities as elemental copper on a particulate deposition cathode by electrolysis of an electrolyte comprising the leach.

19 . The process according to claim 18 , wherein the deposition cathode has a particle size d50 ranging from 1 μm to 1000 μm.

20 . The process according to claim 18 , wherein the electrolyte comprises less than or equal to 4000 ppm of the copper impurities before the electrolysis.

21 . The process according to claim 18 , wherein the deposition cathode is made of copper and/or carbon.

22 . The process according to claim 18 , wherein an electrochemical potential is applied to the deposition cathode during the electrolysis ranging from −50 mV to −500 mV with respect to the electrochemical potential of copper.

23 . The process according to claim 18 , wherein the electrolyte has a pH from 4 to 8.

24 . The process according to claim 18 , wherein the transition metal material is obtained from mechanically treated battery scraps, or is obtained as metal alloy from smelting battery scrap.

25 . The process according to claim 18 , wherein the deposition cathode is obtained at least partially from the transition metal material.

26 . The process according to claim 18 , further comprising removing non-dissolved solids from the leach, wherein the non-dissolved solids are carbon particles, and feeding the carbon particles into step (b) as deposition cathode.

27 . The process according to claim 18 , further comprising precipitating the transition metal as mixed hydroxides or mixed carbonates.

28 . The process according to any of claims 18 , wherein the leaching agent is an inorganic or organic aqueous acid.

29 . The process according to claim 18 , further comprising adjusting the pH value of the leach to 2.5 to 8, and removing precipitates of phosphates, oxides, hydroxides, and/or oxyhydroxides by solid-liquid separation.

30 . The process according to claim 18 , wherein the deposition cathode is suspended in the electrolyte.

31 . The process according to claim 30 wherein the concentration of the suspended deposition cathode in the electrolyte is from 0.01 wt % to 10 wt %.

32 . The process according to claim 18 , wherein the electrolyte is passed through the deposition cathode as a particulate filter-aid layer.

33 . The process according to claim 32 , wherein the electrolysis is performed in an electrochemical filter flow cell.

34 . The process according to claim 18 , wherein step (b) comprises applying a further electrochemical potential to the deposition cathode during the electrolysis and depositing dissolved nickel salts as elemental nickel on the particulate electrode and/or depositing dissolved cobalt salts as elemental cobalt on the particulate electrode.

Assignees

• Basf Se

Inventors

• Rohde Wolfgang
• Bayer Domnik
• Adermann Torben

Classifications

• H01M10/54 Primary

  Reclaiming serviceable parts of waste accumulators · CPC title

• C25C1/08

  of nickel or cobalt · CPC title

• C22B7/007

  by acid leaching · CPC title

• C22B15/0067

  with acids or salts thereof · CPC title

• C22B47/00

  Obtaining manganese · CPC title