The Recycling of End-of-Life Lithium-ion Batteries and the Phase Characterisation of Black Mass

Black mass is the industry term applied to end of life (EoL) lithium-ion batteries that have been mechanically processed for potential use as a recycled material to recover the valuable metals present including cobalt, lithium, manganese, nickel and copper. A significant challenge to the effective processing of black mass is the complexity of the feed material. Two samples of black mass from a European source were analysed using a combination of methods including automated SEM- EDS (AMICS) to characterise and quantify the phases present and particle chemistry. Micro X-CT imaging, overlain onto automated mineralogy images, enabled the 3D morphology of the particles to be determined. Micro-XRF was used to map the copper, nickel, manganese and cobalt-bearing phases. Since Li cannot be detected by SEM-EDS its abundance was semi-quantified using laser ablation inductively coupled mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). The integration of these complimentary analytical methods allowed the detailed phase characterisation, which may guide the potential hydrometallurgical or pyrometallurgical recycling routes and chemical assaying.