Carbonylation of lithium ion battery materials
The described process efficiently recovers nickel and cobalt from lithium ion battery materials by reducing Ni2+ and Co2+ to Ni and Co, removing lithium salts, and forming nickel tetracarbonyl and dicobalt octacarbonyl or cobalt tricarbonyl nitrosyl, addressing inefficiencies in existing methods and reducing energy consumption.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- WO · WO
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- BASF SE
- Filing Date
- 2025-12-09
- Publication Date
- 2026-06-18
AI Technical Summary
Existing recycling processes for lithium ion battery materials, such as US 2023/155202 A1, US 2024/055681 A1, and US 2024/344175 A1, are inefficient in recovering nickel and cobalt from cathode active materials (CAM) and black mass (BM), particularly due to high energy consumption and suboptimal recovery methods.
A process involving reductive heat treatment of CAM and/or BM with hydrogen to reduce Ni2+ and Co2+ to Ni and Co, followed by water washing to remove lithium salts, addition of sulfur, and reaction with carbon monoxide or a mixture of carbon monoxide and nitrogen monoxide to produce nickel tetracarbonyl and dicobalt octacarbonyl or cobalt tricarbonyl nitrosyl, respectively, while leaving a residue depleted of nickel and cobalt.
This method effectively recovers nickel and cobalt in the form of carbonyl complexes, achieving high yields under milder conditions compared to previous methods, thereby improving the efficiency and reducing energy consumption.
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