New publication “Circular Potential of Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Slags: Quantifying Microstructure and Elemental Distribution for a Holistic Valorisation”

Extractive pyrometallurgy is an established process for recycling lithium-ion batteries (LIB). In the recently published study, an industrial pyrometallurgical slag was characterised using various geochemical and imaging methods. The contained β-eucryptite shows a high lithium content and a high chemical purity. It was also shown that chromium and vanadium accumulate in spinels of the chromite-coulsonite solid solution series, which are being discussed as a secondary raw material for Cr,V extraction. Furthermore, it was demonstrated how important a quantitative evaluation of the microstructure (grain shape and grain size distribution) is for an assessment of the technical feasibility of recycling. Published in Advanced Science (DOI: 10.1002/advs.202523988)