The recycling of waste lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) plays a pivotal role in the sustainable advancement of renewable energy technologies. In this study, a novel approach to recover cobalt and lithium from LIBs is introduced, employing infrared rapid heating for ex-situ reduction with low rank coal serving as the precursor for constructing a reducing atmosphere. The method is based on rapid pyrolysis with an infrared heater, which allows high-temperature pyrolysis of organic precursors for gas supply within 30 seconds. It facilitates the efficient recovery of high purity lithium carbonate and cobalt oxide while extracting valuable oils with lithium recovery efficiencies of up to 97%. Compared to conventional thermal conversion techniques, the method minimized the interference of carbon and organic volatiles and achieves precise temperature control of pyrolysis and reduction processes. In addition, the influence of Co with different crystalline structures on the reduction reaction due to catalytic Fischer-Tropsch synthesis is explored. This work represents a potentially versatile method for efficient pyrometallurgical recovery of precious metals.The body of your abstract begins here.

Infrared heating, Pyrolysis, Lithium-ion batteries, Coal, Biomass