## 2 Materials and Methods  
### Materials  
Three different types of battery masses were used in this research. These materials were obtained in a procedure of mechanical processing of Li-ion battery waste and subsequently dried at temperatures in the range of 80-180 \({}^{\circ}\)C. Battery masses for testing were prepared by Elemental Metals Strategics Sp. z o.o. (Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Poland) [50] in cooperation with a company specializing in the construction of machines for the mechanical processing of polymetallic waste. All materials were characterized by a grain size of \(\mathcal{O}\) < 1 mm, and their chemical compositions were similar to the standard Li-ion cells used on the market. The materials were as follows: Material I, module car; Material II, tablets and laptops; and Material III, mobile phones. All analyses were performed at the Lukasiewicz Research Network-Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals, Centre of Analytical Chemistry (Gliwice, Poland). Ni, Co, Li, Mn, Cu, P, Al, Fe contents in battery masses and solutions were determined using the ICP-OES (Emission Spectrometer Optima 5300V (PerkinElmer, Waltham, MA, USA)). F and Cl content was determined using potentiometric methods. C content was determined using IR spectrometry. XRD analyses were performed at the Lukasiewicz Research Network-Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals, Centre of Functional Materials (Gliwice, Poland), based on the interpretation of diffraction patterns prepared with an XRD diffractometer Rigaku MiniFlex 600, equipped with an X-ray tube of wavelength 1.5406 A, D/TeX silicon strip detector and 2.5\({}^{\prime\prime}\) high-resolution Soller slits on the primary and diffuse beam [51]. Analyzing the chemical compositions of the battery masses, it can be concluded that the composition of Material I differs significantly from the composition of the other materials, confirming a theory that cells from electric cars (EV) contain more nickel than cobalt, in comparison to cells from tablets, laptops and mobile phones--Table 2 [52; 53]. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c} \hline
**Author** & **Title** & **Patent Application or Patent Number** \\ \hline [PERSON], & Method for recycling lithium batteries & 9312581 \\ [PERSON], & and/or electrodes of such batteries & \\
[42] & & \\ \hline [PERSON], & Recycling Li-ion batteries using green & 20200399737 \\ Rice University [43] & chemicals and processes & 20200399737 \\ \hline [PERSON], & & \\ Jiun-Ren U.L., & Metal recovery method of wasted & TW501294B \\ [PERSON]. & lithium-ion battery using sulfuric acid & \\
[44] & & \\ \hline Or PRESS [PERSON] & A process for recovering metals from & CA3109084A1 \\
[45] & recycled rechargeable batteries & \\ \hline Gagne-Bourque D.M.C, [PERSON], & & \\ [PERSON]. & Lithium-ion battery recycling process & WO2019060996A1 \\
[46] & & \\ \hline [PERSON], & & \\ [PERSON], & & \\ [PERSON]. & & \\
[47] & & \\ \hline JX Nippon Mining and & & \\ Metals Corp. & & \\
[48] & & \\ \hline Li-metal & Granted patent for producing refined & \\
[49] & lithium metal from lithium carbonate & CA3179470 \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: _Cont._All materials contained a similar amount of carbon, ranging from 34.30% to 39.20%. The materials were characterized by a variable content mainly of cobalt, nickel, manganese, copper, fluorine and aluminum. Thus, the cobalt content in Material I was 9.33%, and in Materials II and III, it was between 27.00% and 29.70%. On the other hand, in the case of nickel, the highest content of 9.83% was in Material I, and in Materials II and III, the Ni content ranged from 2% to 3%. The copper content in the tested materials ranged from 1.37% to 2.73%, and the highest content was found in Material I. In the case of manganese, it was observed that a significant content of this metal was found only in Material I--8.70%. The content of fluorine, phosphorus and aluminum was also highest in Material I and amounted to 3.22%, 0.84% and 4.28%, respectively. On the other hand, the iron content for all tested materials was similar and ranged from 0.31% to 0.39%.