Clean Technology (청정기술)

The Korean Society of Clean Technology (한국청정기술학회)
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A Study on the Prior Leaching and Recovery of Lithium from the Spent LiFePO4 Cathode Powder Using Strong Organic Acid

강유기산을 이용한 폐LiFePO4 양극분말로부터 리튬의 선침출에 대한 연구

  • Dae-Weon Kim (Advanced Materials and Processing Center, Institute for Advanced Engineering) ;
  • Soo-Hyun Ban (Samsung SDI) ;
  • Hee-Seon Kim (Advanced Materials and Processing Center, Institute for Advanced Engineering) ;
  • Jun-Mo Ahn (Department of Mineral Resources and Energy Engineering, Junbuk University)
  • 김대원 (고등기술연구원 신소재공정센터) ;
  • 반수현 (삼성 SDI) ;
  • 김희선 (고등기술연구원 신소재공정센터) ;
  • 안준모 (전북대학교 자원.에너지공학과)
  • Received : 2024.05.17
  • Accepted : 2024.06.12
  • Published : 2024.06.30
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Abstract

Globally, the demand for electric vehicles has surged due to greenhouse gas regulations related to climate change, leading to an increase in the production of used batteries as a consequence of the battery life issue. This study aims to selectively leach and recover valuable metal lithium from the cathode material of spent LFP (LiFePO4) batteries among lithium-ion batteries. Generally, the use of inorganic acids results in the emission of toxic gases or the generation of large quantities of wastewater, causing environmental issues. To address this, research is being conducted to leach lithium using organic acids and other leaching agents. In this study, selective leaching was performed using the organic acid methane sulfonic acid (MSA, CH3SO3H). Experiments were conducted to determine the optimal conditions for selectively leaching lithium by varying the MSA concentration, pulp density, and hydrogen peroxide dosage. The results of this study showed that lithium was leached at approximately 100%, while iron and phosphorus components were leached at about 1%, verifying the leaching efficiency and the leaching rates of the main components under different variables.

전 세계적으로 기후변화에 따른 온실가스 규제로 전기자동차의 수요가 급증하고 있으며, 주요 부품인 전지의 수명 문제로 추후 폐전지의 발생으로 이어지게 된다. 이에 리튬이온전지 중 폐LFP(LiFePO4)전지의 양극재로부터 유가금속인 리튬을 선택적으로 선침출 및 회수하고자하였다. 이때, 일반적으로 사용되는 무기산은 독성가스 배출 또는 다량의 폐수가 발생되어 환경문제를 야기시킨다. 이를 대체하기 위하여 유기산 및 기타 침출제를 이용하여 리튬을 침출하는 연구가 수행중이며, 본 연구에서는 유기산인 메탄술폰산(Methane sulfonic acid, MSA, CH3SO3H)을 이용하여 선택적으로 선침출하였다. 리튬을 선침출하기위한 최적의 조건을 확인하기 위하여 MSA 농도, 광액농도 그리고 과산화수소 투입량을 변수로 하여 실험을 진행하였다. 본 연구를 통해 리튬은 약 100% 그리고 철 및 인 성분은 약 1% 내외로 침출되어 분리 효율 및 변수에 따른 주요 성분의 침출률을 확인할 수 있었다.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

본 연구는 2023년도 산업통상자원부의 재원으로 한국에너지기술평가원의 지원을 받아 수행한 연구 과제입니다(재생자원의 저탄소 산업 원료화 기술개발 사업 No. 20229A10100100).

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