Multi-million investment into US battery research

The Argonne National Laboratory has received US$ 3.5 million (EUR 3.2 million) from the US government to help accelerate sustainable battery production in America.

The grant is part of a US$ 7 billion investment by the US Department of Energy to strengthen the domestic battery supply chain. The money is for extraction and recycling efforts to lower the environmental impact of electric vehicle batteries while also cutting production costs. Grants will be matched with funding from the receiving companies.

The demand for critical battery components, such as lithium and graphite, are projected to increase significantly in the coming decades, according to Argonne’s battery recycling specialist Jeffery Spangenberger, who heads the institute’s ReCell Center. ‘If this problem is not addressed, it could limit the development and adoption of clean energy battery technologies.’

He estimates that nearly eight million tonnes of EV batteries may be available for recycling by 2040. ‘Tapping them for our metal needs can reduce emissions by as much as 16 million tonnes a year while also providing a much-needed domestic source for battery materials.’

His team is ‘excited to have this great opportunity’ to help advance battery recycling technology and to support efforts to expand commercial-scale ‘green’ battery materials manufacturing in the US. They are working on half a dozen battery specific partnerships.

An example is the collaboration with Michigan Technological University to address the cost and quality of materials produced in battery recycling by coupling the recycling to the reclamation of mine waste. If successful, the project could reduce energy use by 25%.

Argonne is also working with Princeton NuEnergy to develop new direct recycling methods for end-of-life lithium-ion batteries. The objective is to revive the battery components without breaking down their chemical structure. This approach minimises chemical waste and limits the risk associated with the materials supply chain.

Spangenberger’s team has also joined hands with the University of California San Diego to demonstrate a battery recycling technology that integrates a purification process into regeneration to improve the quality of recycled cathode materials. The R&D pilot project could reduce costs by up to 80% while delivering a supply of domestic cathodes.