Recovering copper from spent lithium ion battery by a mechanical separation process

Based on the structure of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), the electrode materials were separated from spent LIBs with aim to recycle all valuable components as possible. The spent LIBs were dismantled first, then the mechanical pulverization and sieving process was adopted in the separation of anodes. Owing to low bonding force between graphite carbon particles and copper foil, graphite carbon can easily drop off and be separated when anode materials were struck. The results showed that after shredding and sieving, most copper was concentrated in the particle size above 0.59 mm (below 30 mesh), the copper recovery rate reached 93.10 wt %, and the content of copper was 95.40 % at the condition of 3 min pulverization. Further separation of the anode scraps from 0.590 mm to 0.177 mm was carried out using fluidized bed technology. Approximately 92.30 wt % of copper in anode particles from 0.590 mm to 0.177 mm can be recovered by a gas-fluidized bed separator at the selected optimal gas velocity (1.00 m·s^-1).