Recycling of spent nickel-cadmium batteries

A technique for recycling spent nickel-cadmium batteries, which makes separation of cadmium and nickel possible, is developed by laboratory-scale experiments. NH3-H2CO3 aqueous solution was used in this leaching technique. Since neutralization and/or solvent extraction were not required in the separation procedure of nickel and cadmium, the closed systemization of the process becomes possible. Experimental results show that, (1) if the NH3 concentration of leaching solution is sufficiently high and the ratio of H2CO3 to NH3 is properly adjusted, both Ni(OH)2 and Cd(OH)2 react with NH3 and quickly dissolve into leaching solution, and (2) Ni(OH)2 can be converted into insoluble NiO by calcination at 500 °C, and CdO from Cd(OH)2 by calcination maintains good solubility in NH3-H2CO3 aqueous solution. As a conclusion, the recycling technique characterized by two step leaching can be developed based on such changes in dissolution behavior by calcination. Meanwhile, the yields of 99.8% for nickel and 97.6% for cadmium are obtained, and the purities of recovered nickel and cadmium are 99.9% and 98.6%, respectively.