Inside a BASF battery-recycling disclosure: follow the lithium-bearing stream, decode the original process drawing, and separate the core claim from the optional steps.
US20240347801A1 · Independent PatentOracle research · 20 September 2026
The core process contacts battery material with a specified hypochlorite-containing aqueous medium, then separates solids from liquids. Its immediate lithium product is an aqueous solution, rather than a finished new battery material.
The pictured route continues through purification, possible conversion to lithium hydroxide and crystallization. Those downstream choices should not all be read as requirements of independent claim 1.
They can occur in the starting material. This disclosure does not establish a separate nickel-versus-cobalt recovery process. Its principal reading is lithium liberation and purification.
The disclosure concerns recovery of lithium from battery-derived material, including mechanically produced “black mass.” Its central process is to contact the material with an aqueous medium containing calcium hypochlorite, lithium hypochlorite, or a combination of those salts, then separate solids from liquids. The required immediate output is an aqueous solution containing lithium ions. In the description’s proposed calcium-hypochlorite reaction pathway, lithium from a lithium metal oxide is liberated into a lithium-chloride-containing liquid while much calcium is associated with sparingly soluble calcium hydroxide. Thus, the principal objective is to move lithium into a liquid stream that can be purified further.
Nickel and cobalt may be present in the starting material, notably in lithiated nickel-cobalt-manganese and nickel-cobalt-aluminum oxides. However, the disclosure does not describe a distinct nickel-versus-cobalt separation step, a nickel product, or a cobalt product. Its stated focus is lithium removal and purification. The examples report an observation that calcium hypochlorite maintained pH at a level said to avoid dissolution of base metals while allowing the reaction to continue. That observation does not establish the individual destinations of nickel or cobalt, nor does it demonstrate their separation from one another.
Black mass is battery-derived material made by mechanical processing such as comminution. It may contain graphite and cathode active material, together with impurities from casings, electrode foils, cables, separators, and electrolyte. The description permits disassembly, shredding, milling, and removal of light fractions before the aqueous treatment. Solvent removal of polymeric binders and heat treatment are further described options, rather than universal steps. The stated heat-treatment range is 100°C to 900°C, but the description cautions that above 400°C some transition-metal oxides may be reduced and their inorganic composition may change. One described way to avoid reduction is to remain below 400°C and/or remove carbonaceous material first.
The chemical contact is the lithium-liberation stage. Solid/liquid separation then divides the reaction slurry into a lithium-bearing liquid and a solid residue. The description identifies insoluble black-mass residues such as graphite and solid calcium hydroxide as material that may be present in that residue. The liquid can then undergo lithium/calcium separation, with calcium species removed by nanofiltration, precipitation, crystallization, solvent exchange, ion exchange, or combinations. A lithium/sodium separation is separately described for cases where sodium ions are to be removed. These liquor-purification stages address lithium, calcium, sodium, and other impurities; they are not disclosed as cobalt/nickel splitting operations.
Original FIG. 1, process 100. The patent supplies the numbers and arrows; paragraph [0064] supplies the operation names. The pictured chain is exemplary. Blue numbered leaders identify parts and do not add process connections.
Inspect original page 2 ↗The exemplary route treats battery material in an aqueous medium containing calcium hypochlorite. Claim 1 also permits lithium hypochlorite or their combination.
The side output 108 is a lithium-depleted solid residue. The lithium-containing liquid continues toward 103.
The text identifies 103 as lithium/calcium separation and 109 as a collected calcium salt. It lists alternative separation techniques.
The lithium salt solution may undergo a separate lithium/sodium separation. This downstream choice is not required by independent claim 1.
The text offers reaction with calcium hydroxide, LiCl electrolysis or electrodialysis. The box does not mean all alternatives are performed.
Crystallization may yield a lithium salt such as lithium hydroxide monohydrate. This is a downstream example beyond the core liquid-producing split.
Original Figure 1 on page 2 can be read alongside paragraph [0064]. The numbered boxes and two side outlets form an exemplary process, not a statement that every downstream step is required. Process (100) starts with treatment in an aqueous medium containing calcium hypochlorite (101). The arrow leads to solid-liquid separation (102), with a side outlet (108) identified in the description as a lithium-depleted solid residue that may contain calcium salts. The main path continues downward to Li/Ca separation (103). Its side outlet (109) is identified as a calcium salt. The downward path then passes through Li/Na separation (104), potential conversion to LiOH (105), crystallization (106), and lithium-salt output (107). Paragraph [0064] supplies these names and qualifications; the original drawing itself mainly shows numbers and arrows. The following section explains the optional downstream choices. This additional original-sheet inspection was performed by Codex after the automatic review, which had only received the textual description.
After Li/Ca separation (103), the exemplary route says the lithium salt solution may undergo Li/Na separation (104), such as precipitation as carbonate, solvent extraction, adsorption, or ion exchange. It may then be transformed to LiOH at (105), for example by reaction with calcium hydroxide, LiCl electrolysis, or electrodialysis. Crystallization (106) may yield a lithium salt such as LiOH·H2O at (107). If LiCl electrolysis is used, chlorine may optionally be recycled to produce calcium hypochlorite; recovered calcium hydroxide may also be used to make chlorinated lime. These are alternatives and additional embodiments, not a single mandatory chain. The examples and discussion report comparative observations favoring calcium hypochlorite over sodium hypochlorite or ammonium persulfate for lithium recovery and pH behavior. They do not provide evidence that the process was industrially deployed, and they do not quantify an environmental benefit.
Claim 1 has two core requirements. First, battery material is contacted with an aqueous medium containing at least one salt selected from calcium hypochlorite, lithium hypochlorite, and combinations of them, forming a mixture. Second, solids are separated from liquids in that mixture to obtain an aqueous solution comprising lithium ions. The wording permits calcium hypochlorite alone, lithium hypochlorite alone, or a combination; it does not require both salts. Claim 1 does not itself require mechanical comminution, a stated temperature or duration, Li/Ca separation, Li/Na separation, electrolysis, crystallization, calcium recovery, or a nickel/cobalt separation.
Claims 2–7 add material choices and compositions. Claims 8–10 add a calcium-hypochlorite-to-material ratio, a contacting temperature/time, or specified physical separation techniques. Claims 11–15 add purification, chlor-alkali electrolysis, use of its chlorine, calcium-hydroxide recovery, and use of recovered calcium hydroxide to make chlorinated lime. Each is a dependent addition to the claim it names: claim 15 depends on claim 14, so it includes calcium-hydroxide recovery before its stated use. Claims 19–21 add initial, final, or during-contact pH limits. Independent claim 16 is distinct from claim 1 because it requires mechanical comminution of specified battery inputs to obtain black mass before aqueous hypochlorite contact and solids/liquids separation. Claim 18 depends on claim 13 and further requires reuse of chlorinated lime and/or lithium hypochlorite produced from electrolysis-derived chlorine.
Mechanical processing can prepare black mass, but is an express requirement only of claim 16. Hypochlorite contact is intended to liberate lithium into the aqueous phase. Solid/liquid separation is the decisive first split: it produces lithium-ion-containing liquid and a lithium-depleted solid residue that may include graphite and calcium hydroxide. Li/Ca separation then improves the lithium stream by removing calcium species and collecting a calcium salt. Li/Na separation is a further, separate option when sodium removal is wanted. Conversion and crystallization may take the purified lithium stream toward lithium hydroxide and, in the textual exemplary route, LiOH·H2O. No stated operation performs a separate nickel-from-cobalt split.
For claim 1, the required steps are contacting the battery material with an aqueous medium comprising at least one of calcium hypochlorite, lithium hypochlorite, or their combinations, and separating solids from liquids to obtain an aqueous solution comprising lithium ions. For claim 16, mechanically comminuting specified battery-related material to obtain black mass is additionally required. Calcium hypochlorite is an alternative permitted by claim 1 and is specifically required by dependent claim 17; it is not required for every claim 1 embodiment because lithium hypochlorite and combinations of the two are also recited. The 20 °C to 100 °C contact temperature, 10-minute to 10-hour duration, and specified separation equipment are dependent-claim limitations. Purification, chlor-alkali electrolysis, and calcium-hydroxide recovery or reuse are also claimed in dependent claims. Li/Ca separation (103) and Li/Na separation (104) are described optional embodiments or exemplary-route operations, not dependent-claim features. The textual exemplary route is treatment (101), solid-liquid separation (102), Li/Ca separation (103), optionally Li/Na separation (104), potential transformation to LiOH (105), crystallization (106), and lithium-salt output (107), with side outputs (108) and (109).
One publication; all nine identified description and claim pages supplied to the explanation. Six annotations on the original drawing. All eleven original pages follow, unchanged.
The PDF contains the explanation, annotations and every original page, with internal source links. The ZIP includes this web edition, the PDF, source and review records, and checksums. Downloaded files remain readable offline.
The automated review supported the ten text blocks but could not inspect Figure 1. Codex subsequently checked original page 2 against paragraph [0064] on page 6, and inspected this edition’s annotations and layout. The original automated verdict is preserved; this was assisted review, not independent human review.
The drawing was preserved from the outset. OCR did not identify its figure label, which explains why automatic image selection missed it. Its identity, page and additional inspection are recorded with this edition.
The source proposes a process and reports experimental observations. This reading does not establish industrial deployment, a quantified environmental advantage, or patent validity.
The original patent is the source of the proposed capabilities. This independent example does not establish deployment, measured performance, a client relationship or endorsement by BASF.
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