Optimizing Organic Acid Leaching of Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries Using Material Flow Cost Accounting (MFCA)

The rapid growth of electric vehicles has increased the demand for lithium-ion batteries, highlighting the need for sustainable recycling of spent cathode materials. This study combines laboratory-scale leaching experiments and Material Flow Cost Accounting (MFCA) to compare citric, tartaric, and succinic acids for recovering Ni, Co, Mn, and Li. Under optimized conditions, citric acid achieved leaching efficiencies of 81.66% (Li), 76.05% (Co), 91.46% (Ni), and 98.94% (Mn) at a cost of USD 6.50 per 10 g battery; tartaric acid reached 87.29% (Li), 80.52% (Co), 95.79% (Ni), and 99.65% (Mn) at USD 17.23 per 10 g battery; succinic acid yielded 87.05% (Li), 73.82% (Co), 86.27% (Ni), and 99.12% (Mn) at USD 4.11 per 10 g battery. MFCA shows acid consumption dominates costs, suggesting reagent optimization and recycling could reduce expenses. These results provide a cost-oriented laboratory-scale perspective for selecting organic acids, while industrial feasibility requires further evaluation of scale-up, reagent regeneration, and process optimization.