Lithium recovery from spent lithium-ion batteries leachate by chelating agents facilitated electrodialysis

Recovering lithium from industrial spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) leachate with an electrodialysis approach is still a challenge due to the complexity of the leachate, though some studies have been done on simplified synthetic LIBs solutions. This study successfully separates lithium ions from industrial spent LIBs leachate using an electrodialyzer equipped with a bipolar membrane module. Common chelating agents, including ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA), L-glutamic acid (GLDA), and hydroxyethylethylenediaminetriacetic acid (HEDTA) are used to facilitate the recovery of lithium by forming complexes with other metal ions in the leachate. The effect of different chelating agents, their dosages, and varied fluid dynamics on lithium recovery rates are investigated. This approach has been proven to be suitable for lithium recovery from different LIBs industrial leachates including lithium cobalt (LCO), nickel rich (Ni-rich), and nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) spent LIBs black mass in this work. The highest purity and recovery rate of lithium under optimum conditions could achieve up to 99.43 % and 63.91 % respectively.