Enhancement of the recycling of waste Ni–Cd and Ni–MH batteries by mechanical treatment

A serious environmental problem was presented by waste batteries resulting from lack of relevant regulations and effective recycling technologies in China. The present work considered the enhancement of waste Ni–Cd and Ni–MH batteries recycling by mechanical treatment. In the process of characterization, two types of waste batteries (Ni–Cd and Ni–MH batteries) were selected and their components were characterized in relation to their elemental chemical compositions. In the process of mechanical separation and recycling, waste Ni–Cd and Ni–MH batteries were processed by a recycling technology without a negative impact on the environment. The technology contained mechanical crushing, size classification, gravity separation, and magnetic separation. The results obtained demonstrated that: (1) Mechanical crushing was an effective process to strip the metallic parts from separators and pastes. High liberation efficiency of the metallic parts from separators and pastes was attained in the crushing process until the fractions reached particle sizes smaller than 2 mm. (2) The classified materials mainly consisted of the fractions with the size of particles between 0.5 and 2 mm after size classification. (3) The metallic concentrates of the samples were improved from around 75% to 90% by gravity separation. More than 90% of the metallic materials were separated into heavy fractions when the particle sizes were larger than 0.5 mm. (4) The size of particles between 0.5 and 2 mm and the rotational speed of the separator between 30 and 60 rpm were suitable for magnetic separation during industrial application, with the recycling efficiency exceeding 95%.