Monitoring of Critical Raw Material Recycling from Battery Black Mass

The efficient recycling of end-of-life batteries has become a critical focus area. Shredded batteries produce a complex "black mass" containing valuable and toxic materials such as lithium, nickel, and cobalt. This study demonstrates the effective use of the LUMiSizer analytical centrifuge and LUMiReader X-Ray in separating and analysing a sediment for the presence of these critical material components. Near-infrared (870 nm) incident light transmission profiles allow for the monitoring of accelerated sedimentation-based separation (with respect to gravity) and sediment height analysis. It also provides an assessment of the black mass dispersion's stability via an instability index, offering a quantitativemethod for optimizing recycling operating procedures. X-Ray profiles detect electron-dense, X-ray attenuating metals in the sediment, indicating the separation's efficiency.