Efficient Recovery of Value Metals from Spent Lithium-Ion\nBatteries by Combining Deep Eutectic Solvents and Coextraction

The advancement of the electric vehicle\nindustry has inevitably\nresulted in the increased production and numerous scraps of lithium-ion\nbatteries (LIBs), among which the nickel cobalt manganese ternary\nmaterial has become the fastest growing and largest proportion material\nin the lithium battery cathode material market. Therefore, a practical\nand effective method to recycle spent LIBs must be established. In\nthis study, an efficient recycling method was proposed to leach value\nmetals from cathode materials via the excellent solubility of deep\neutectic solvents to metals, and regenerated LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 was prepared via coextraction\nand coprecipitation. 91.63% of Li, 92.52% of Co, 94.92% of Ni, and\n95.47% of Mn are leached from the recycled cathode electrode. The\nkinetic experiments indicated that the leaching process fitted well\nto the shrinking core model controlled by chemical reactions. The\nvalue metals could be extracted with high efficiencies by adjusting\nthe operating parameters in the step of coextraction. Moreover, the\nelectrochemical tests of the regenerated ternary material revealed\nthat the material had an excellent electrochemical performance. The\nproposed method, which can realize the sustainable development of\nspent LIBs, has great potential in the deep recycling of spent LIBs.