title: A copper-catalyzed bioleaching process for enhancement of cobalt dissolution from spent lithium-ion batteries.
abstract: A copper-catalyzed bioleaching process was developed to recycle cobalt from spent lithium-ion batteries (mainly LiCoO(2)) in this paper. The influence of copper ions on bioleaching of LiCoO(2) by Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans (A.f) was investigated. It was shown that almost all cobalt (99.9%) went into solution after being bioleached for 6 days in the presence of 0.75 g/L copper ions, while only 43.1% of cobalt dissolution was obtained after 10 days without copper ions. EDX, XRD and SEM analyses additionally confirmed that the cobalt dissolution from spent lithium-ion batteries could be improved in the presence of copper ions. The catalytic mechanism was investigated to explain the enhancement of cobalt dissolution by copper ions, in which LiCoO(2) underwent a cationic interchange reaction with copper ions to form CuCo(2)O(4) on the surface of the sample, which could be easily dissolved by Fe(3+).
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Jiangxi Province for Ecological Diagnosis-Remediation and Pollution Control, Nanchang Hangkong University, Nanchang 330063, PR China. zengguisheng@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Guisheng
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Xiaorong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Shenglian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Xubiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Jianping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zou
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000254:growth & development; D002384:Catalysis; D003035:Cobalt / Q000737:chemistry*; D003300:Copper / Q000737:chemistry*; D011211:Electric Power Supplies; D008094:Lithium; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D012995:Solubility
chemical_list: D003035:Cobalt; D003300:Copper; D008094:Lithium