Green recycle processing of cathode active material from LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 (NCM 111) battery waste through citric acid leaching and oxalate co-precipitation process

Abstract Valuable metals from spent LIBs can be recovered through acid leaching and co-precipitation process. In this study, citric acid was used as a leaching agent to extract Li, Co, Ni, and Mn ions from LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 (NCM 111) active material by adding sucrose as a reducing agent. Addition of sucrose was able to increase the efficiency of metal ions leaching. Transition metal ions in the filtrate are then co-precipitated by adding oxalic acid to obtain metal-oxalate salt. Organic acids leaching and oxalate co-precipitation process were able to recover valuable metals from spent LIBs through an environmentally friendly procedure.