Activity-in-Diagram: Mechanically/Chemically Pretreat Material

Description

Notes:
This activity is completed to reduce the size and heterogeneity of materials, further sort battery material and cells, or improve the state of safety of the material. May include a neutralizing step.

This often results in the formation of black mass (aka black powder, black sand, etc.), which is material that can undergo hydro- or pyrometallurgical activities.

Definitions:
Feed (stock) - material being supplied to a processing machine.

Black Mass - shredded battery material.

Pre-treatment - activity (e.g., drying, grinding, grading) applied to a material before it enters the main treatment process. Adapted from ISO 11074:2025, 3.343.

Standards:
None

References:
Mousa E, Hu X, Ånnhagen L, Ye G, Cornelio A, Fahimi A, Bontempi E, Frontera P, Badenhorst C, Santos AC, Moreira K, Guedes A, Valentim B (2022) Characterization and thermal treatment of the black mass from spent lithium-ion batteries. Sustainability, 15(1), 15. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010015

Pinegar H, Smith YR (2019) End-of-life lithium-ion battery component mechanical liberation and separation. JOM, 71(12), 4447-4456. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-019-03828-7

Pinegar H, Smith YR (2020) Mechanical Beneficiation of End-of-Life Lithium-Ion Battery Components. In Energy Technology 2020: Recycling, Carbon Dioxide Management, and Other Technologies (pp 259-267). Cham: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36830-2_25

Wang H, Liu C, Qu G, Zhou S, Li B, Wei Y (2023) Study on pyrolysis pretreatment characteristics of spent lithium-ion batteries. Separations, 10(4), 259. https://doi.org/10.3390/separations10040259

Owning Diagram: Pretreat Battery

Decomposition

Mechanically/Chemically Pretreat Material