Investigating the potential of deep eutectic solvents for metal recovery from spent lithium-ion batteries

The development of electric vehicles and portable electronic devices has increased the use of lithium-ion batteries, resulting in increased battery waste. Currently, efficient, and environmentally friendly lithium-ion battery recycling technology is needed to reduce environmental pollution due to LIB waste. Deep eutectic solvent (DES) is attracting attention as an environmentally friendly solvent that can be used in recycling processes. This research aims to obtain Co and Mn elements from recycled lithium-ion batteries using the leaching method using DES. In the DES synthesis process, ChCl is used as a hydrogen bond acceptor (HBA) and oxalic acid as a hydrogen bond donor (HBD) with an HBA/HBD ratio (1/1). Deep eutectic solvent ChCl: oxalic acid is used as a solvent in the process of leaching valuable metals from used lithium-ion batteries. The effect of temperature and time will be investigated on the leaching recovery. These variables include temperature variations (30^oC, 55^oC and 80^oC), time variations (1,3,5,7, and 10 minutes) and S/L 1gr/50ml with a stirring speed of 1000rpm. The results showed that the leaching recovery of Co was 62.88% and Mn was 43.56% at a temperature of 80^oC for 10 minutes.