Temperature-Correlated Characterization of EoL Lithium Cobalt Oxide Batteries with Microwave-Based Pyrometallurgical Recovery

With the increasing volumes of spent lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles and the concurrent increase in raw materials cost for cathode production, finding effective methods for recycling battery materials has become critically important. This study investigated a pyrometallurgical approach using microwave irradiation to achieve carbothermal reduction of LiCoO2. FactSage thermodynamic calculations were performed for process simulation and an infrared thermal camera was employed for temperature measurements, allowing the authors to optimize the process parameters to obtain metallic cobalt. Specifically, the research included microwave experiments on mixed black mass samples of anode and cathode materials in different proportions, treated at varying power levels and exposure times under air atmosphere. The effect of the process parameters and therefore of the temperature on microstructure was studied with SEM-EDS and XRD analysis. The feasibility of a wet magnetic separation method between cobalt and lithium compounds formed during the reaction was also evaluated. The results obtained from the final separation process indicated that individual compounds can be obtained at the end of the cycle; moreover, the optimization of time, temperature, and graphite additions during the tests allowed the authors to obtain promising results.