The main objective of RECYCLION was the development and demonstration of a new sustainable and efficient hydrometallurgical process capable of recovering 80–90% of nickel, cobalt, lithium, manganese, and graphite contained in the black mass¹ derived from endoflife lithiumion batteries. The raw materials recovered through this process are obtained as highpurity precursors (>90%) for the production of lithiumion battery materials, thereby enabling battery recycling and contributing to the circular economy of batteries.
To achieve the main objective of RECYCLION, the following specific objectives were pursued during the project:
3.1. Study of washing, flotation, and particle size separation technologies for graphite extraction, aiming both at its recovery as a valuable material and at increasing metal concentration in the initial residue to improve leaching efficiency.
3.2. Evaluation of leaching treatments in stirred tanks, as well as sonochemical leaching, under acidic, reducing, or nonreducing conditions, in one or multiple stages, in order to identify combinations that maximize metal dissolution for subsequent separation stages.
3.3. Analysis of dispersive solvent extraction, oxoprecipitation, membrane technologies, ionexchange columns, and microencapsulation of extractants for the selective and sequential recovery and purification of the target metals.
