Due to the increasing demand for battery raw materials such as cobalt, nickel, manganese, and lithium, the extraction of these metals not only from primary, but also from secondary sources like spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is becoming increasingly important. One possible approach for an optimized recovery of valuable metals from spent LIBs is a combined pyro- and hydrometallurgical process. According to the pyrometallurgical process route, in this paper, a suitable slag design for the generation of slag enriched by lithium and mixed cobalt, nickel, and copper alloy as intermediate products in a laboratory electric arc furnace was investigated. Smelting experiments were carried out using pyrolyzed pelletized black mass, copper(II) oxide, and different quartz additions as a flux to investigate the influence on lithium-slagging. With the proposed smelting operation, lithium could be enriched with a maximum yield of 82.4% in the slag, whereas the yield for cobalt, nickel, and copper in the metal alloy was 81.6%, 93.3%, and 90.7% respectively. The slag obtained from the melting process is investigated by chemical and mineralogical characterization techniques. Hydrometallurgical treatment to recover lithium is carried out with the slag and presented in part 2.

The objective of this study is to describe primary lithium production and to summarize the methods for combined mechanical and hydrometallurgical recycling of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). This study also aims to draw attention to the problem of lithium losses, which occur in individual recycling steps. The first step of hydrometallurgical treatment is leaching, which is an effective method capable of transferring over 99% of the present metals to the leach solutions. Extraction of metals after leaching can be conducted using various methods, with precipitation being the most commonly used. The precipitation of other metals can result in the co-precipitation of lithium, causing total lithium losses up to 30%. To prevent such losses, solvent extraction methods are used to selectively remove elements, such as Co, Ni, Al, and Mn. Solvent extraction (SX) is highly effective, reducing the losses to 3% per extraction stage and reducing overall lithium losses to 15%. After the refining, lithium is precipitated as lithium carbonate. High lithium carbonate solubility (1.5 g/L) and high liquid to solid leaching ratios require costly and avoidable operations to be implemented in order to enhance lithium concentration. Therefore, it is suggested that more studies should focus on multistage leaching with lower L/S ratios.

Due to the increasing demand for battery raw materials, such as cobalt, nickel, manganese, and lithium, the extraction of these metals, not only from primary, but also from secondary sources, is becoming increasingly important. Spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) represent a potential source of raw materials. One possible approach for an optimized recovery of valuable metals from spent LIBs is a combined pyro- and hydrometallurgical process. The generation of mixed cobalt, nickel, and copper alloy and lithium slag as intermediate products in an electric arc furnace is investigated in part 1. Hydrometallurgical recovery of lithium from the Li slag is investigated in part 2 of this article. Kinetic study has shown that the leaching of slag in H₂SO₄ takes place according to the 3-dimensional diffusion model and the activation energy is 22–24 kJ/mol. Leaching of the silicon from slag is causing formation of gels, which complicates filtration and further recovery of lithium from solutions. The thermodynamic study presented in the work describes the reasons for the formation of gels and the possibilities of their prevention by SiO₂ precipitation. Based on these findings, the Li slag was treated by the dry digestion (DD) method followed by dissolution in water. The silicon leaching efficiency was significantly reduced from 50% in the direct leaching experiment to 5% in the DD experiment followed by dissolution, while the high leaching efficiency of lithium was maintained. The study takes into account the preparation of solutions for the future trouble-free acquisition of marketable products from solutions.

Silicon dioxide nanoparticles, also known as silica nanoparticles or nanosilica, are the basis for a great deal of biomedical and catalytic research due to their stability, low toxicity and ability to be functionalized with a range of molecules and polymers. A novel synthesis route is based on CO₂ absorption/sequestration in an autoclave by forsterite (Mg₂SiO₄), which is part of the mineral group of olivines. Therefore, it is a feasible and safe method to bind carbon dioxide in carbonate compounds such as magnesite forming at the same time as the spherical particles of silica. Indifference to traditional methods of synthesis of nanosilica such as sol gel, ultrasonic spray pyrolysis method and hydrothermal synthesis using some acids and alkaline solutions, this synthesis method takes place in water solution at 175 °C and above 100 bar. Our first experiments have studied the influence of some additives such as sodium bicarbonate, oxalic acid and ascorbic acid, solid/liquid ratio and particle size on the carbonation efficiency, without any consideration of formed silica. This paper focuses on a carbonation mechanism for synthesis of nanosilica under high pressure and high temperature in an autoclave, its morphological characteristics and important parameters for silica precipitation such as pH-value and rotating speed.

This work includes a combined hydrometallurgical treatment of a eudialyte ore sample with a subsequent preparation of leaching residue using mechanical separation methods. Hydrometallurgical treatment contains dry digestion with sulphuric acid at room temperature and filtration of the obtained product. The objectives of adopting these procedures are to test a new digestion reactor in order to prevent silica gel formation from the eudialyte ore. The obtained results revealed that silica gel formation is prevented during dissolution with sulphuric acid. A high leaching efficiency of light rare earth elements (La, Ce, Nd, Y) was reached using the dry digestion process with sulphuric acid, where the starting molarity was 12 mol/L. After the filtration process, magnetic separation is studied as the main method to recover weakly magnetic minerals like amphiboles and pyroxenes from the leaching residue in the magnetic fraction and feldspars in the nonmagnetic fraction. A new combined research strategy was developed for the production of different concentrates such as the one bearing Zr, Hf, and Nb.