A Novel Process for Recovery of Key Elements from Commercial Cathode Material of End-of-Life Lithium-Ion Battery

A novel process to recover lithium and manganese oxides from a cathode material (LiMn2O4) of spent lithium-ion battery was attempted using thermal reaction with hydrogen gas at elevated temperatures. A hydrogen gas as a reducing agent was used with LiMn2O4 powder and it was found that separation of Li2O and MnO was taken place at 1050°C. The powder after thermal process was washed away with distilled water and only lithium was dissolved in the water and manganese oxide powder left behind. It was noted that manganese oxide powder was found to be 98.20 wt.% and the lithium content in the solution was 1,928 ppm, respectively.