Metals recovery from spent lithium ion batteries (LIB) using deep eutectic solvents (DES)

This work introduces a modern approach to suggest an alternative pathway to answer the growing demand of raw material for the batteries, by sustainable process. With the rapid development of the electric vehicle market and increasing demand for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), spent LIBs recycling has attracted extensive attention worldwide. The project is focused on new technology based on deep eutectic solvents (DES), to recovery metals, (mainly cobalt and nickel) from spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Being environmentally friendly, deep eutectic solvents (DESs) have great potential for critical metal recycling from spent LIBs. Herein, were tested several DES, highlighting their characteristics and showing their results in terms of leaching efficiency. Furthermore, it was carried out a series of trial to recover the metals after the extraction by precipitation using two different agents, sodium carbonate and sodium dithiocarbamate. This study provides a novel, environmentally friendly and efficient strategy for critical metals recovery from spent LIBs.