Physical Method for the Recycling of Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) Cells

摘要: In 2019, 74,900 t of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) were placed on the European Union (EU) market, of which 51% were industrial and automotive batteries (European Commission, 2019). LIBs are seen as excellent secondary resources for the recovery of lithium, a critical raw material (European Commission, 2022). EU member states have the challenge to achieve a minimum collection rate for LIBs of 70%, and a recycling rate of 70% for lithium by 2030 (European Commission, 2020). Therefore, more efforts should be made to recover lithium and other metals through recycling methods (Castelvecchi, 2021). There are different types of currently used LIBs, distinguished by the chemical composition of the cathode material. A common type is the Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) cell (Zhao et al., 2021). Considering that solutions for an efficient recycling process of batteries urges, this study aims to characterize the LFP cells to the elemental composition, and propose a mechanical process to obtain rich fractions of valuable materials. The knowledge about the elementary composition of the batteries and the proposition of initial concentration steps to valorize the residue are essential to improve the efficiency of the entire recycling routes.