Response surface methodology of nickel and cobalt recovery from battery using acid as leaching agent

The need for batteries will increase change from conventional vehicles to electric vehicles. Electric vehicles are used as an effort to reduce CO2 emissions that can cause global warming. The acceleration for the development of the electric vehicle industry is also supported by Indonesia's ability to produce nickel which is a commodity in electric batteries. Battery waste that is not managed properly can cause environmental problems and result in human health due to hazardous and toxic materials waste. Battery waste also has economic value for its supporting metals. This recycling is also one of the measures to break down the excessive exploitation (mining) of nature which causes environmental damage and can reduce the cost of producing raw materials by around 50–70%. This study purpose to recycle battery waste in order to obtain quantitative data on the recovery of Ni and Co with hydrometallurgical techniques, where battery waste will be leached using sulfuric acid solution with the help of peroxide acid at a certain time, temperature and stirring speed. Optimization is done using the Behnken–Box where the variables reviewed are solid–liquid ratio variables (2–10% (S/L), acid concentration (0.5–2.5 M) and temperature (40–80 °C). The recovery optimization process of Ni and Co obtained optimal conditions at solid–liquid ratio of 2.5%, sulfuric acid concentration of 1 M, and temperature 80 °C which resulted Ni and Co recovery of 99.9 and 97.8%, respectively, from experiment.