Phase chemistry study to support the technology development for the recycling of lithium ion batteries

The use of the lithium ion batteries has significantly increased over the last few years and is expected to increase in the future, mainly due to their application in electrical cars [1]. Recycling of the batteries is essential to safely dispose hazardous materials as well as to recover valuable elements including cobalt, copper, nickel, manganese, lithium and others. A growing amount of used manganese containing materials in the battery cathode [2], will lead to increasing concentrations of manganese present in the high temperature smelter slag. In order to optimise the recycling process of these metals, accurate information is required on the phase equilibria in the Al2O3-CaO-Li2O-'MnO'-SiO2 system.