Ball Milling-Assisted Leaching of Valuable Metals from Spent Lithium Batteries in Citric Acid and Hydrogen Peroxide System
Ball milling was adopted to assist leaching of valuable metals from the cathode powder of spent batteries in citric acid and hydrogen peroxide system.It is found that ball milling can exert mechanical energy on the reaction solution,leading to changes in its structure and physical and chemical properties.As a result,chemical reactions can occur,which not only increases reaction rate,but also shortens leaching time.It is shown that after 30 min leaching at 60 ℃,with citric acid concentration of 0.8 mol/L,H2O2 at a mass fraction of 20%,liquid-solid ratio of 6∶1,and rotation speed of 60 r/min for a ball mill,the leaching rates of lithium,nickel,cobalt and manganese can reach 99.6%,99.5%,99.3%and 98.5%respectively.It is concluded that this processing technique,being characterized by low cost and high efficiency,can provide a certain reference for recycling of spent batteries.