Abstract:
The effective and low-temperature extraction of lithium from the pyrometallurgical slag of spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) remains a great challenge. Herein, potassium carbonate/sodium carbonate (K
2CO
3/Na
2CO
3), which could form a eutectic molten salt system at 720°C, was used as a roasting agent to extract lithium from pyrometallurgical slag. Lithium was successfully extracted from the slag by K
2CO
3/Na
2CO
3 roasting followed by water leaching. Theoretical calculation results indicate that the lengths of Li–O bonds increase after K
+/Na
+ adsorption, resulting in the easy release of Li
+ from the LiAlSi
2O
6 lattice after roasting with K
2CO
3/Na
2CO
3. Thermogravimetry–differential scanning calorimetry results indicate that the eutectic phenomenon of K
2CO
3 and Na
2CO
3 could be observed at 720°C and that the reaction of the slag and eutectic molten salts occurs at temperatures above 720°C. X-ray diffraction results suggest that Li
+ in the slag is exchanged by K
+ in K
2CO
3 with the concurrent formation of KAlSiO
4, while Na
2CO
3 mainly functions as a fluxing agent. The lithium extraction efficiency can reach 93.87% under the optimal conditions of a roasting temperature of 740°C, roasting time of 30 min, leaching temperature of 50°C, leaching time of 40 min, and water/roasted sample mass ratio of 10:1. This work provides a new system for extracting lithium from the pyrometallurgical slag of spent LIBs.