Selective separation and recovery of Co(II) and Ni(II) from lithium-ion battery using Cyanex 272 adsorptive membrane

doi:10.1007/s11783-024-1908-0

Front. Environ. Sci. Eng.

2024, Vol. 18

Issue (12) : 148 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-024-1908-0

Selective separation and recovery of Co(II) and Ni(II) from lithium-ion battery using Cyanex 272 adsorptive membrane

Chengchao Xiao, Liqing Yan, Haiping Gao, Zeou Dou, Xing Xie(

), Yongsheng Chen(

)

School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA

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Abstract

● Cyanex 272-PVDF membranes efficiently extract Co(II).

● FTIR, SEM, and EDX confirmed homogeneous blending and enlarged pore size.

● Optimal Co(II)/Ni(II) separation factor of 209.5 was achieved at pH 6.8 and 75 °C.

● Membranes retained 98% adsorption capacity over 20 recycling cycles.

● A cost-effective, eco-friendly alternative to solvent extraction was presented.

Liquid-liquid solvent extraction, commonly used for high purity Co(II) extraction, suffers from drawbacks such as environmental pollution and high cost. To overcome these challenges, a novel Cyanex 272 (bis(2,4,4-trimethyl pentyl)phosphinic acid, HCyanex) adsorptive membrane (CAM) was synthesized using the phase inversion method with varied Cyanex 272 loadings (0–52.5%) to extract Co(II) from cobalt-nickel mixed sulfate solution. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer, Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) of as-prepared CAMs confirmed the successful and homogeneous blending of Cyanex 272 with poly(vinylidenefluoride) (PVDF), and increased pore sizes were observed with the addition of Cyanex 272. The highest Co (II) removal was achieved by the CAMs containing 33.2% weight percentage of Cyanex 272 to PVDF with a Langmuir sorption capacity of 1.42 mg/g. The extraction process for Co(II) and Ni(II) by CAMs was sensitive to pH and temperature, with an optimal separation factor of 209.5 at pH 6.8 and 75 °C. The adsorption process is endothermic. Additionally, the membrane exhibited excellent stability and durability, maintaining around 98% adsorption capacity after 20 cycles in the recycling process. These findings suggest that the as-prepared CAMs are a promising technology for the separation of Co(II) from Ni(II) in the recycling process of lithium-ion batteries.

Keywords Adsorption membrane Cyanex 272 Cobalt-nickel separation Lithium-ion battery recycling Phase inversion

Corresponding Author(s): Xing Xie,Yongsheng Chen

Issue Date: 08 October 2024

Cite this article:

Yongsheng Chen,Xing Xie,Zeou Dou, et al. Selective separation and recovery of Co(II) and Ni(II) from lithium-ion battery using Cyanex 272 adsorptive membrane[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2024, 18(12): 148.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-024-1908-0
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y2024/V18/I12/148

Tab.1 Chemical structures and purities

Tab.2 Composition of the casting solutions for PVDF membrane and CAMs

Fig.1 FTIR spectra of PVDF membrane, Cyanex 272 liquid, and CAM2.

Fig.2 Top (left) and Bottom (right) Surface SEM images under 10 k magnification of (a) pristine PVDF membrane, (b) CAM1, (c) CAM2, (d) CAM3, (e) Cross-section SEM of CAM2.

Fig.3 The distribution of P in EDX mapping on the top surface of (a) pristine PVDF membrane, (b) CAM1, (c) CAM2, (d) CAM3, (e) cross-section of CAM2.

Fig.4 Adsorption performance of the PVDF membrane with Cyanex 272. (a) Co(II) adsorption capacity normalized to the total membrane mass for the adsorption membrane with a different weight percentage of Cyanex 272. (b) Specific Co(II) adsorption capacity normalized to the mass of Cyanex 272 for CAMs. (c) Isotherm of Co(II) adsorption for CAM2.

Fig.5 (a) Distribution factor of Co(II) and Ni(II) for various pH values, (b) Separation factor of Co(II) and Ni(II) for various pH values.

Fig.6 (a) Separation factor of the adsorption membrane under different temperatures at pH 6.8, (b) Distribution factor of Co(II) and Ni(II) under different temperatures at pH 6.8, (c) ln thermodynamic equilibrium constant of Co(II) and Ni(II) versus T⁻¹.

Fig.7 Membrane reusability was evaluated by Extraction Efficiency (E) under various stripping solutions, (a) 0.01, 0.05, 0.1, and 0.5 mol/L H₂SO₄ as stripping solutions, (b) 0.01 mol/L H₂SO₄ as stripping solutions after prewash, (c) 0.01 mol/L HCl, H₂SO_4, and EDTA as stripping solutions.

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