Primary cells as a source of environmental micropollutants and the method of comprehensive recovery of useful components from them

The aim of this paper was to develop method of recovery of valuable metals from used primary batteries with lithium-anode and to obtain a product in the form of lithium stearate through the synthesis of a lithium hydroxide solution with stearic acid.Pre-treatment of the battery with liquid nitrogen to reduce the reactivity of lithium, crushing and then leaching of the battery material with water, wet sieving and magnetic separation of the oversize product for the recovery of metal parts and plastic were carried out.Filtration of the liquid after wet sieving with the recovery of manganese dioxide, concentration of the filtrate and its synthesis with stearic acid solution to obtain lithium stearate were carried out.The paper presents the properties of lithium hydroxide and its phases formed as a result of leaching the battery material by X-ray diffraction and thermogravimetric analysis.Lithium stearate was analyzed by the Fourier-transform infrared spectrometry.The conceptual diagram and material balance of the process were presented.