Efficient recovery of electrode materials from lithium iron phosphate batteries through heat treatment, ball milling, and foam flotation

Efficient separation of small-particle-size mixed electrode materials, which are crushed products obtained from the entire lithium iron phosphate battery, has always been challenging. Thus, a new method for recovering lithium iron phosphate battery electrode materials by heat treatment, ball milling, and foam flotation was proposed in this study. The difference in hydrophilicity of anode and cathode materials can be greatly improved by heat-treating and ball-milling pretreatment processes. The micro-mechanism of double enhancement of flotation effect by pretreatment process was revealed by means of micro-morphology characterization and thermogravimetric analysis. Finally, the effects of rotational speed and aeration on flotation effect were investigated through experiments. Results showed that after heat treatment at 480 ℃ for 20 min and ball milling for 3 min, the yield and grade of lithium iron phosphate reached 96.3