Page 32 from: Read it online: issue 6!
In the Laboratory
the goal of more
cost-effective and
smarter battery
recycling
There may soon be a better way to handle post-consumer
products that contain lithium-ion batteries. Researchers and
scientists at the US Idaho National Laboratory (INL) are
working on a solution to make the recycling of such batter-
ies easier and more efficient.
The global lithium-ion battery market
is expected to double in size in the
next five years, reaching US$ 71 bil-
lion (EUR 60 billion) by 2025. Market
analysts at Statista point out that
demand worldwide for e-mobility
alone is likely to increase from 142
gigawatt hours (GWh) recorded in
2018 to 2 333 GWh hours in 2030.
It means there is much work to be
done in terms of recycling with only
about 5% of the world’s Li-ion batter-
ies being properly recycled.
ElEctricity powErs lEaching
A positive development is that INL
has devised a ‘proof-of-principle’
approach to battery recycling that
works at room temperature and with-
out relying on aggressive chemicals.
The innovation, INL researcher Tedd
Lister explains, consists of the elec-
trochemical-assisted leaching of
active materials from Li-ion batteries.
This method recovers valuable metals
from the mixed shredded Li-ion bat-
teries. ‘Instead of heat, the energy
comes from electricity which powers
the reactions that leach the cobalt,
lithium, manganese, and other mate-
rials out of the batteries,’ Lister says.
Turning to electrons to act as a ‘green
reagent’ allows the use and regenera-
tion of Fe2+ in low concentrations
instead of hydrogen peroxide as a
reducing agent.
96% sorting EfficiEncy
The INL team conducted tests on
shredded Li-ion batteries, supplied by
Retriev Technologies in Ohio. The
chemicals used for metals separation
was supplied by Solvay, based in
Brussels.
After refining the electrochemical
process, Lister and his crew managed
to hit 96% sorting efficiency for
extracted cobalt, lithium, manganese
and nickel all of which exit the pro-
cess in a single output stream. This
was achieved at pulp densities up to
240 grams per litre. Meanwhile, cop-
per can be recovered individually as it
deposits on the
cathode, which significantly simplifies
the downstream separation process.
impactful work
Preliminary cost analyses demon-
strate approximately 80% reduction
in energy and chemical costs com-
pared to traditional hydrometallurgi-
cal routes. Another benefit is that this
novel battery recycling approach
could make use of any excess energy
produced by utility-sized electricity
plants.
Lister says future plans include devel-
oping an electrochemical procedure
for the leaching process to separate
the output into cobalt, lithium, man-
ganese and nickel streams. The R&D
crew is also exploring reuse for
another critical material, graphite, as
it remains an interesting yet untapped
recycling opportunity.
For more information, contact:
tedd lister via: [email protected]
Get in touch with us to share innova-
tive projects and developments via:
[email protected]
a U T h o R Kirstin Linnenkoper
RESEARCH
PIONEER __
_________
SUPPORT FR
OM
Battery me
tals extract
ion
Idaho Natio
nal Laborat
ory
Tedd Lister
32
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