Reclaiming the spent alkaline zinc manganese dioxide batteries collected from the manufacturers to prepare valuable electrolytic zinc and LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 materials.

A process for reclaiming the materials in spent alkaline zinc manganese dioxide (Zn-Mn) batteries collected from the manufacturers to prepare valuable electrolytic zinc and LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 materials is presented. After dismantling battery cans, the iron cans, covers, electric rods, organic separator, label, sealing materials, and electrolyte are separated through the washing, magnetic separation, filtrating, and sieving operations. Then, the powder residues react with H2SO4 (2 mol L(-1)) solution to dissolve zinc under a liquid/solid ratio of 3:1 at room temperature, and subsequently, the electrolytic Zn with purity of ⩾99.8% is recovered in an electrolytic cell with a cathode efficiency of ⩾85% under the conditions of 37-40°C and 300 A m(-2). The most of MnO2 and a small quantity of electrolytic MnO2 are recovered from the filtration residue and the electrodeposit on the anode of electrolytic cell, respectively. The recovered manganese oxides are used to synthesize LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 material of lithium-ion battery. The as-synthesized LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 discharges 118.3 mAh g(-1) capacity and 4.7 V voltage plateau, which is comparable to the sample synthesized using commercial electrolytic MnO2. This process can recover the substances in the spent Zn-Mn batteries and innocuously treat the wastewaters, indicating that it is environmentally acceptable and applicable.

Adsorptive separation and photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye on titanate nanotube powders prepared by hydrothermal process using metal Ti particles as a precursor.

Titanate nanotube powders (TNTPs) with the twofold removal ability, i.e. adsorptive separation and photocatalytic degradation, are synthesized under hydrothermal conditions using metal Ti particles as a precursor in the concentrated alkaline solution, and their morphology, structure, adsorptive and photocatalytic properties are investigated. Under hydrothermal conditions, the titanate nanotubes (TNTs) with pore diameter of 3-4nm are produced on the surface of metal Ti particles, and stacked together to form three-dimensional (3D) network with porous structure. The TNTPs synthesized in the autoclave at 130°C for 24h exhibits a maximum adsorption capability of about 197mg g(-1) in the neutral methylene blue (MB) solution (40mg L(-1)) within 90min, the adsorption process can be described by pseudo second-order kinetics model. Especially, in comparison with the adsorptive and the photocatalytic processes are performed in turn, about 50min can be saved through synchronously utilizing the double removal ability of TNTPs when the removal ratio of MB approaches 95% in MB solution (40mg L(-1)) at a solid-liquid (S/L) ratio of 1:8 under ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation. These 3D TNTPs with the twofold removal properties and easier separation ability for recycling use show promising prospect for the treatment of dye pollutants from wastewaters in future industrial application.