Hydrometallurgical separation of rare earth elements, cobalt and nickel from spent nickel–metal–hydride batteries

The separation of rare earth elements, cobalt and nickel from NiMH battery residues is evaluated in this paper. Analysis of the internal content of the NiMH batteries shows that nickel is the main metal present in the residue (around 50% in weight), as well as potassium (2.2–10.9%), cobalt (5.1–5.5%), rare earth elements (15.3–29.0%) and cadmium (2.8%). The presence of cadmium reveals that some Ni–Cd batteries are possibly labeled as NiMH ones. The leaching of nickel and cobalt from the NiMH battery powder with sulfuric acid is efficient; operating variables temperature and concentration of H2O2 has no significant effect for the conditions studied. A mixture of rare earth elements is separated by precipitation with NaOH. Finally, solvent extraction with D2EHPA (di-2-ethylhexyl phosphoric acid) followed by Cyanex 272 (bis-2,4,4-trimethylpentyl phosphinic acid) can separate cadmium, cobalt and nickel from the leach liquor. The effect of the main operating variables of both leaching and solvent extraction steps are discussed aiming to maximize metal separation for recycling purposes.