废旧锂电池电极材料浮选行为及表面性质

Flotation behavior and surface properties of spent lithium-ion battery electrode materials

  • 摘要: 锂离子电池中含有丰富的金属元素和多种毒害性物质,废旧锂电池回收不仅能实现资源循环利用,而且能防止环境污染. 本文以废旧动力锰酸锂电池为研究对象,利用“焙烧强化浮选”的方法解决锰酸锂电池资源化回收过程中正负极电极材料难以浮选分离的问题,即通过焙烧去除电极材料表面的有机粘附物,从而增大电极材料表面润湿性差异,进而强化浮选分离过程. 结果表明,商品化锰酸锂和商品化石墨具有相反的浮选行为,而废旧锰酸锂和废旧石墨具有相似的疏水性浮选行为. 废旧锰酸锂电极材料浮选分离时,锰酸锂和石墨浮选分离效率低,而商品化锰酸锂和石墨的浮选分离效率高. XRD、XPS、SEM、FT-IR及接触角分析表明,废旧锂电池电极材料表面均包裹一层含C、O、F等元素的有机物,导致正负极电极材料具有相似的表面性质,因而表现出相似的浮选行为,导致两者的浮选分离难度大. 不同焙烧参数下电极材料的浮选分离试验结果表明,550 ℃焙烧2 h后锰酸锂和石墨的浮选分离效率明显优于未焙烧的电极材料. 此时,浮选精矿中锰酸锂的品位由未焙烧的63.10%提高到90.98%;小型闭路浮选精矿中石墨残留量少,锰酸锂的纯度达到99%.

     

    Abstract: Lithium-ion batteries contain a large amount of metals and various toxic substances. Recycling of waste lithium batteries can allow resource recycling and prevent environmental pollution. In this study, waste power lithium manganate (LiMn2O4) batteries are taken as the research object, and the method of “roasting enhanced flotation” is employed to solve the problem of difficult flotation separation of the positive and negative electrode materials during the recycling process of LiMn2O4 batteries. Conversely, the organic adhesion on the surface of the electrode materials is removed using roasting, thereby increasing the difference in surface wettability between the electrode materials and facilitating the flotation separation process. Research on the flotation behavior of single-electrode materials of lithium-ion batteries shows that the flotation behavior of commercial LiMn2O4 is opposite to commercial graphite, while waste LiMn2O4 and waste graphite perform similar hydrophobic. During the flotation separation of the mixed electrode materials, the flotation separation efficiency of waste LiMn2O4 and graphite is low, while that of commercial LiMn2O4 and graphite is high. Furthermore, X-ray diffraction analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and contact angle analysis results show that the surface of the waste lithium battery electrode material is coated with organic compounds containing carbon, oxygen, fluorine, and other elements, resulting in similar surface properties of anode and cathode electrode materials, which finally increases the difficulty of flotation separation of anode and cathode electrode materials. Furthermore, the thermal stability analysis result of the electrode materials shows that the decomposition temperature range of the organic matter is 400–600 ℃. Upon completely understanding the surface properties of the electrode materials and the thermal stability of their organics, a muffle furnace is used to investigate the effect of roasting temperature and time on the removal of organic matter on the surface of the electrode materials. The results show that after roasting at 550 ℃ for 2 h, the organics adhered to the surface can be completely oxidized and decomposed, following which the original surface of the electrode material can be exposed without altering the phase composition of the electrode material. The experimental results of the flotation separation of the electrode materials under different calcination parameters show that the flotation separation efficiency of LiMn2O4 and graphite after calcination at 550 ℃ for 2 h is considerably higher than the electrode materials without calcination. At this time, the grade of LiMn2O4 in the flotation concentrate increased from 63.10% without roasting to 90.98%; the residual graphite in the small-scale, closed-circuit flotation concentrate is low, and the purity of LiMn2O4 reaches 99%.

     

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