From the spent lithium-ion battery to the ceramic pigment

Co/Al blue ceramic pigment has been synthesised using a Co3O4 of high purity recovered from the active cathode material of spent lithium-ion batteries. The synthesised pigment showed equal technical and aesthetic characteristics to those of the standard one, prepared using commercial Co3O4. Active cathode material was obtained using a physical semiautomatic separation process designed to minimise the contamination of the desired material. As a result of this study, not only the recycling of lithium-ion batteries for environmental protection is addressed but also the resource conservation as cobalt is considered a critical raw material by the European Commission. The different active cathode materials were analysed using different analytical techniques to know the concentration of the element of interest (Co) and the presence of impurities, such as Al, Cu, F, P, etc., as these can reduce the quality of the product recovered.