Offres d'emplois

PhD THESIS ANOUNCEMENT

Implementation of electrodialysis operation in recycling processes of spent cathodic materials from lithium-ion batteries

Electrodialysis is a mature technology which is hardly implemented in hydrometallurgical processes despite its potentialities. The performance of this operation depends only on the properties of the membranes and the architecture of the electrodialyzer. It is in fact necessary to find the best operating conditions to limit the membrane aging and avoid membrane clogging. Furthermore, the electrodialyzer has to be perfectly integrated into the overall hydrometallurgical flowsheet. Our previous work demonstrated that electrodialysis using selective membranes towards monovalent cations (and more particularly towards lithium) can effectively separate and concentrate the lithium contained in leach solution produced by dissolving NMC111 (cathodic material of lithium-ion batteries, LiNi1/3Mn1/3Co1/3O2) with sulfuric acid in the presence of hydrogen peroxide at an optimum pH. However, membrane clogging occurred when the electrodialyser operated for a long time because of the precipitation of metal cations inside the membranes. Clogging was responsible for a loss in the electrodialyzer performance and to premature aging of the membranes. Various tests were carried out to limit this phenomenon (washing of the membranes upstream, alternative current, etc.) but none of these trials fixed completely these issues. In this project, we propose to adapt the chemistry of the overall hydrometallurgical process to avoid chemical clogging of the membranes while maintaining the selectivity of the process.

 The implementation of the electrodialysis operation within a global flowsheet including electrodialysis, precipitation and solvent extraction and/or ion exchange resins will be investigated in this project in order to produce high-grade salts of cobal, nickel, manganese and lithium:

The investigation of the chemistry involved in each of these operations will contribute to the optimization of the flowsheet and its architecture. A techno-economic study will be carried out based on the data acquired and the techno-economic performance of the process will be compared with other more conventional technologies.

The candidates should have skill in: chemical engineering, analytical chemistry, solution chemistry.

The PhD studies will be carried out at Université de Lorraine in the LRGP Lab and the Georessources Lab (Nancy) under the supervision of Prof. Laurence Muhr and Prof. Alexandre Chagnes, who are expert in electrodialysis/ ion exchange resins and hydrometallurgy/solvent extraction, respectively.

For application send CV and motivation letter to Cette adresse e-mail est protégée contre les robots spammeurs. Vous devez activer le JavaScript pour la visualiser.and Cette adresse e-mail est protégée contre les robots spammeurs. Vous devez activer le JavaScript pour la visualiser.Cette adresse e-mail est protégée contre les robots spammeurs. Vous devez activer le JavaScript pour la visualiser.