Anode activating agent recovery by magnetic separation from the <0.075 mm fraction of crushed nickel metal hydride batteries from hybrid vehicles

Nickel metal hydride batteries of hybrid vehicles contain rare metals such as Ni, Co, and rare-earth elements as electrode components. A direct smelting method has been used to recover Ni from waste batteries, but the Co and rare-earth elements are difficult to extract with this conventional method. To recycle Co and rare-earth elements, physical pretreatment is necessary to separate the anode and cathode compounds before smelting. This study investigated the magnetic separation of anode and cathode activating agents in the <0.075 mm fraction of crushed cylindrical and prismatic types batteries. In the cylindrical type anode activating agent concentrated in the non-magnetic product of the Davis tube tester, separated at low magnetic fields (0.1 T), while in the prismatic type anode activating agent concentrated in the magnetic product of high gradient magnetic separation. Microscope observations and results of the elemental analysis with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy showed that this separation behavior difference originates from differences in the cathode component manufacturing processes. An optimum physical treatment process using magnetic separation is proposed to recover the rare metal components.