Post by account_disabled on Feb 20, 2024 5:57:35 GMT -5
Lithium ion battery (LIB) plays an important role in our daily life. Their use is ubiquitous in most rechargeable electronic devices and they are also the most important energy storage systems for the rapidly growing electric mobility sector. The increasing demand for these batteries, currently, nickel and cobalt, copper and aluminum, as well as steel, are mainly recovered from battery waste for reuse. Lithium recovery is expensive, challenging and hardly profitable.
Now, researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have developed a novel recycling method that can recover up to % of lithium from battery waste without the need for corrosive chemicals, high temperatures and pre-sorting of materials. . The method combines mechanical processes with chemical reactions and enables economical, energy-efficient and environmentally friendly recycling of any type of lithium-ion battery.
It has been developed by researchers from the Department of Energy Storage Systems at the Institute for Applied Materials (IAM-ESS) of KIT, the Helmholtz Ulm Institute for Electrochemical Ene C Level Executive List rgy Storage (HIU) established by KIT in cooperation with Ulm University and EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG.
“The method can be applied to recover lithium from cathode materials of various chemical compositions and therefore for a wide range of lithium-ion batteries available on the market,” says Dr. Oleksandr Dolotko from IAM-ESS and HIU, the first author of the publication. “It allows for economical, energy efficient and environmentally compatible recycling.”
The team used aluminum, which is already contained in the cathode, as a reducing agent in the mechanochemical reaction. The method works as follows: First, the battery waste is ground up. This material then reacts with aluminum to metal compounds with water-soluble lithium compounds. Lithium is recovered by dissolving these compounds in water and subsequently heating it so that the water evaporates.
As the mechanochemical reaction takes place at room temperature and pressure, the method is very energy efficient. Another advantage is its simplicity, which will facilitate its use on an industrial scale, since in the near future large quantities of batteries will have to be recycled.
Now, researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have developed a novel recycling method that can recover up to % of lithium from battery waste without the need for corrosive chemicals, high temperatures and pre-sorting of materials. . The method combines mechanical processes with chemical reactions and enables economical, energy-efficient and environmentally friendly recycling of any type of lithium-ion battery.
It has been developed by researchers from the Department of Energy Storage Systems at the Institute for Applied Materials (IAM-ESS) of KIT, the Helmholtz Ulm Institute for Electrochemical Ene C Level Executive List rgy Storage (HIU) established by KIT in cooperation with Ulm University and EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG.
“The method can be applied to recover lithium from cathode materials of various chemical compositions and therefore for a wide range of lithium-ion batteries available on the market,” says Dr. Oleksandr Dolotko from IAM-ESS and HIU, the first author of the publication. “It allows for economical, energy efficient and environmentally compatible recycling.”
The team used aluminum, which is already contained in the cathode, as a reducing agent in the mechanochemical reaction. The method works as follows: First, the battery waste is ground up. This material then reacts with aluminum to metal compounds with water-soluble lithium compounds. Lithium is recovered by dissolving these compounds in water and subsequently heating it so that the water evaporates.
As the mechanochemical reaction takes place at room temperature and pressure, the method is very energy efficient. Another advantage is its simplicity, which will facilitate its use on an industrial scale, since in the near future large quantities of batteries will have to be recycled.