With the increasing volumes of spent lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles and the concurrent increase in raw materials cost for cathode production, finding effective methods for recycling battery materials has become critically important. This study investigated a pyrometallurgical approach using microwave irradiation to achieve carbothermal reduction of LiCoO₂. FactSage thermodynamic calculations were performed for process simulation and an infrared thermal camera was employed for temperature measurements, allowing the authors to optimize the process parameters to obtain metallic cobalt. Specifically, the research included microwave experiments on mixed black mass samples of anode and cathode materials in different proportions, treated at varying power levels and exposure times under air atmosphere. The effect of the process parameters and therefore of the temperature on microstructure was studied with SEM-EDS and XRD analysis. The feasibility of a wet magnetic separation method between cobalt and lithium compounds formed during the reaction was also evaluated. The results obtained from the final separation process indicated that individual compounds can be obtained at the end of the cycle; moreover, the optimization of time, temperature, and graphite additions during the tests allowed the authors to obtain promising results.

In this work, PV silicon recovered from a PV panel recycling facility was utilized as a reactant for the synthesis of ferrosilicon alloys via microwave treatment in the presence of iron oxides and graphite. Microwave-driven process was further explored using ladle furnace slag from secondary steelmaking as a reactive component. Different amounts of reactants, time and microwave power were used. Microwave heating allowed to reach temperatures higher than 900 °C after few minutes of treatment at a power of 600 W. The obtained materials were characterized by SEM-EDS and XRD. The proposed process allowed to obtain a ferrosilicon alloy with an amount of 21% Si. This study explored the use of three different types of waste to obtain a ferroalloy FeSi that can be afterwards employed in the steelmaking process.