I didn't find anyone talk about this topic before, so i think this topic will useful for someone who got a useless Lithium-ion battery.
I got one from my broken iphone3Gs....
Wiki said that the cathode is graphite, and Lithium is inside it.
The anode can be LiCoO2, LiFePO4, LiMn2O4, LiNiO2........this four is the most common.
I plan to cut the Lithium-ion battery(already discharged) under water
adding conc.H2SO4 to it, filter the graphite out , then add NaOH to precipitate out all the transition metal hydroxide.
The remain solution will be LiOH and NaOH
Adding (NH4)HF2 to precipitate out LiF
i would try this after a while
is this Okey??
j_sum1 - 15-6-2016 at 22:40
I would use a carbonate rather than a fluoride to precipitate lithium carbonate.
1. Sodium carbonate is a bit friendlier to handle than ammonium bifluoride.
2. It is a lot cheaper.
3. There is a bigger solubility difference between lithium and sodium carbonates than there is between lithium and sodium fluorides. Therefore Li2CO3
should precipitate more efficiently. (edited for accuracy)
4. Post processing of your product to get other lithium salts is going to be a lot easier with a carbonate than a fluoride.
[edit]
Stuck "m" key. There is a difference between more and ore.
[Edited on 16-6-2016 by j_sum1]
Second edit:
I am just adding some solubility data on some lithium and sodium salts. (I happened to have it on hand.) Source is wikipedia and so it is what it
is. If you look closely you'll see it is not complete but it will give you an idea.
You'll note that LiOH does not have a huge solubility. It is manageable but if you let your concentrations get too high you do risk dropping some of
your lithium as a precipitate with the transition metals. I would be looking up some Ksp data on the transition metal species present and watching
for the common ion effect. With care you will keep all your Li in solution.
You will see why I think carbonates are the way to go -- with the added bonus that the solubility of Li2CO3 drops on heating -- which makes separation
even easier.
