Reclaiming important metals from recycling spent batteries is a key source of elements vital to lithium batteries. One of the main reclamation processes for spent batteries involves shredding and incinerating the batteries, resulting in a product known as black mass, which contains the metals of interest, ash, graphite, and residual electrolyte, along with potentially high levels of contaminant elements. Once the concentrations of the major elements are known, recyclers can extract and refine cathode metals, making them available for the production of new batteries.
This work demonstrates the ability of the Avio® 550 Max fully simultaneous ICP-OES to determine major and impurity components in black mass. Using an aqua regia leach, elements are separated from graphite, allowing for analysis with the Avio 550 Max using the new SmartQuant™ software feature as a screening tool, which allows the user to focus on the elements of interest during quantitative analysis. With this knowledge, important metals can be reclaimed from the black mass, purified, and used to produce new batteries.