Acid baking of spent lithium ion batteries for selective recovery of major metals: A two-step process

[Display omitted] •Selective metal dissolution by two stage process intensified treatment of spent LIB.•1st stage water leaching of baked powder dissolved 78.6% Li, 80.4% Co; low Ni, Mn.•HSC data explains relation of ΔG° with selective leaching mechanism.•67% Ni, 64.8% Mn reductively leached using glucose with H2SO4 & HNO3 in 2nd stage.•Overall leaching efficiency: 93.2% Li, 90.52% Co, 82.8% Ni and 77.7% Mn. The present work focuses on a two-step process for selective dissolution of metals from cathode active material of spent LIBs. Cathode powder baked at 300°C using H2SO4 being subjected to first stage leaching with water extracted 78.6% Li, 80.4% Co in 60min at 75°C and 25% pulp density; recovery of Ni and Mn being low (