# Hydrometallurgical Strategy To Reduce Waste through the Recycling of Lithium Iron Phosphate Batteries

## TL;DR

This paper presents a hydrometallurgical method to efficiently recycle lithium iron phosphate batteries, reducing waste and CO2 emissions.

## Contribution

A novel hydrometallurgical strategy is introduced for recycling LFP batteries with high Li recovery and low reagent use.

## Key findings

- 97% of plastics and 85.3% of graphite were recovered, reducing CO2 emissions.
- 72.2% of lithium was precipitated as Li2CO3, enhancing recycling in Li supply.
- Fe purification was improved using H2O2 and ion exchange at 25°C.

## Abstract

Batteries with LiFePO4 as active material
stand out
due to the absence of critical materials, such as nickel and cobalt,
thermal stability, and security. In the next years, high volumes of
LFP batteries will reach their end of life, and overall material recovery
will contribute to meeting the Li demand and reducing the CO2 footprint. Recovery of 97% of plastics and 85.3% graphite prevented
materials from burning in furnaces and reduced the CO2 footprint
from recycling. Leaching cathode active material using H2SO4 without H2O2 resulted in active
material leaching with reduced metallic foil solubilization and less
reagent consumption. Redirecting H2O2 consumption
to Fe removal by precipitation, combined with ion exchange columns
at 25 °C, successfully deepened Fe purification from solution.
Precipitation of Al recovered 15.3% as an Al­(OH)3 coproduct.
After evaporation in a real solution, 72.2% of Li was precipitated
as Li2CO3, contributing to increasing the recycling
share in the Li supply.