LITHIUM EXTRACTION FROM SPENT LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES WITH GREEN SOLVENTS: COSMO-RS MODELING

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) wide usage constitutes a disposal threat to the environment. As a result, several laws are being introduced to encourage the recycling of this waste, particularly, in lithium recovery. Deep eutectic solvent (DES) has been reported as an efficient solvent in valuable metal recovery from spent LIB. However, efficient deep eutectic solvent design requires a smart selection of components. This study developed a COSMO-RS model to screen several components as DES starting material in lithium extraction from spent LIB. The model consists of 188 different constituents. The model is developed using the cosmo therm software in the LIB application for the first time. The model uses lithium chemical potential to measure the affinity of lithium in the screened components. Overall, all the compounds show an affinity for lithium. The components are classified into ionic and non-ionic. The ionic compounds performed better than the non-ionic compounds. This is due to the coordinating ability of the ionic compounds’ cations with lithium. Further, this study highlights other properties such as reducibility, toxicity, and viscosity as screening strategies in DES component selection for lithium extraction. This is to implement the full green chemistry principle essential for industrial application. Keywords: Lithium-ion battery; Lithium; green technology; Deep eutectic solvents; COSMO-RS.