A novel neutrophilic bacteria based process for selective LiFePO4 cathode recycling

Battery recycling has attracted attention as a solution to maintain the chain of demand and supply. First time, a selective biological process assisted by a neutrophilic microorganism for lithium recovery from Li-FP battery cathodes is exhibited. Thiobacillus thioparus, a biosafety level-1 bacterium is used to selectively leach lithium at near-neutral pH. The study showed the leaching was efficient, selective, and environmentally friendly as it could recover 65–98% lithium, with negligible iron, under different experimental conditions supported solely by bacterial activity. Thereafter, lithium was recovered as Li3PO4 from the leach solution, which was subsequently reuse as a culture medium to grow an alkaliphilic bacteria for other applications. The liquid and solid residues were characterized by FAAS, ICP-MS, XRD, FESEM, XPS, UV–visible, and FTIR techniques. The developed process could suggest a sustainable alternative for reclaiming selective recovery of critical metal, which needs to meet the demand for continuous consumption in battery production.