Characterization of Black Mass After Different Pre-Treatment Processes for Optimized Metal Recovery

The exponential growth of Li-Ion BatteriesLithium-ion batteries (LIBs) (LIBs) in the electric vehicle market necessitates the establishment of effective end-of-life treatment technologiesTechnology. This is crucial to prevent any negative impacts on the future supply of strategic elements. In the present study, the influence of four different pre-treatmentPre-treatment conditions for the production of LIB-based Black MassBlack mass (BM) for subsequent hydrometallurgical processing steps has been investigated. Various analytical techniques such as SEM–EDS, XRDX-ray diffraction (XRD), MP-AES, DTA-TG, LECO, and NMR were employed to perform a preliminary characterizationCharacterization of the materialMaterials properties of the different BMs investigated. The elements present in each BM were categorized, the particle aggregationAggregation evaluated, and the total amount of carbon and traces of organic compounds determined. The outcomes of the study give valuable information on how system kineticsKinetics and particle surface area may impact downstream processing. The present research is vital to facilitate hydrometallurgical processing and, further, recoveryRecovery of valuable metalsMetals.