Lithium Battery Recycling

Lithium batteries contain precious elements like cobalt and nickel that manufacturers want to recycle for use again, as doing so reduces mining and processing needs, cutting costs and emissions emissions.

Some companies are already engaged in battery recycling. They typically shred used batteries into black mass before melting or dissolving it to extract metals from it.

Mechanical Crushing

As lithium batteries have become an ever more ubiquitous presence in modern technologies, their recycling has also increased. This is especially important given that their components are highly valuable and limited. Recycling lithium battery cells helps reduce waste while conserving energy that would otherwise go toward producing new ones; additionally, recycling allows us to reuse valuable raw materials reducing demand for fresh raw materials.

One method of battery recycling involves mechanical crushing. This process resembles mining in which raw materials are broken into small pieces for further processing; this can be accomplished either manually or with specialized machinery. Once crushed, fragments from battery recycling can then be subjected to chemical separation, mechanical separation and/or smelting processes before further being put back into service.

Crushing is an integral step of lithium-ion battery recycling, and can take the form of either wet or dry crushing methods. Wet crushing may prove more challenging as its wetting forces the various components to bind together more tightly than desired, whereas dry crushing allows the selective crushing characteristics of spent lithium batteries to come to the forefront, liberating active cathode materials from collector aluminium foil for easier subsequent recovery processes.

Sorting is another key element of battery recycling. Sorting can help remove some of the plastic components found within batteries while isolating their metal components; then the former can be reused while their latter constituents used to craft new lithium batteries. Sorting is often accomplished using magnets which help separate out individual parts from batteries.

As part of the final step of battery recycling, mechanical separation occurs. This includes air-sifting, crushing and sieving. This method has many advantages such as avoiding high temperatures while recovering some of its most costly components such as nickel and cobalt.

Hydrometallurgical Processing

At most lithium battery recycling facilities, spent cells are first separated based on their chemical and physical characteristics before being sent off to a hydrometallurgical processing plant for recovery of metals in ionic form from black masses of cathode materials and graphite anodes. Metals are separated using strong acids or oxidizing agents into oxides, sulfates or hydroxides which are later sold back onto manufacturers to be reused in new batteries.

Some battery recyclers also employ the process known as “pyrometallurgy.” It involves heating spent batteries in a furnace at 1,500 degC for three to four hours to burn away most carbon-based material and produce mixed metal alloys and slag comprised of copper, nickel, aluminum, manganese and cobalt. Unfortunately, this method requires significant energy expenditure while only recovering a small percentage of valuable metals found within batteries.

Hydrometallurgy is an innovative new approach to battery recycling that employs water instead of high temperatures to reduce metal ion sizes by dissolving them in acid, then extracting them from solution. Hydrometallurgy has many advantages when used as part of battery recycling – less energy consumption compared to both pyrometallurgy or mechanical crushing methods, plus it’s suitable for virtually every cell design or chemistry composition.

Northvolt and Redwood Materials have raised billions from both public and private investors to construct large battery recycling plants in Nevada and Europe, not solely with profit in mind, but to minimize environmental impact through carbon emission reduction as well as cost cutting during recovery processes.

Bioleaching, which uses microorganisms’ metabolic outputs to dissolve waste battery materials, is another promising approach to both cutting costs and increasing recovery rates. Researchers from the University of California used Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans chemolithotrophic bacteria to leach out spent LiCoO2 cathode material from lithium batteries; their tests showed they produced sulfuric acid and iron ions which could then be extracted from waste materials for recovery purposes.

Chemical Reactions

Leachate, the process by which rainwater filters through waste materials and acidifies soil, poisoning plant life and polluting groundwater, must be prevented when recycling batteries; to do this successfully, recyclers should ensure batteries have been completely discharged before entering their recycling process or else chemicals and metals contained within their cells can escape into the environment and threaten plant life and water supplies. To combat leachate’s effects, recyclers must ensure batteries have been completely discharged prior to being recycled; otherwise chemicals and metals could escape their cells and pollute both ecosystems and groundwater sources. In order to stop leachate from occurring, recyclers must make sure batteries have been completely discharged prior entering their recycling processes to minimize its negative environmental impact and ensure no environmental hazards arises during their recycling processes – otherwise, chemicals contained within cells may seep out into the environment through leakage into waterways causing leachate’s effects causing plant life poisoning while polluting groundwater contamination through leakage into groundwater sources or by filtering rainwater filtering through waste materials and acidify soil acidified the groundwater pollution thereby poisoning plant life while polluting groundwater polluting through waste materials filtered through rainwater filters through waste filters into groundwater-polluted acidified the soil acidification process to control this issue completely discharge before entering their recycling process otherwise leak out, possibly poisonous metals inside may leak out into environment through cells into environment via cell leakage into groundwater sources or worse! To combat this recycling must ensure batteries completely discharged before entering recycling process to minimize leakage into groundwater sources, poisonous groundwater sources thus pollute it before acidifying groundwater sources, poisoning the groundwater supply sources; so recycled batteries have to acidifying groundwater contamination of course of transport into groundwater sources leaking through to degrade process before acidified groundwater sources before entering recycled at another recycling process so environmental damage in this way from within cells before entering recycling process leaving some form leaking into groundwater sources as leak out leakage via leakage into groundwater sources before entering recycling process to ensure batteries have completely discharged before entering recycling processes otherwise other way out leakage would leakage happens because otherwise the chemicals and metals leak out into environment due to leakage before entering recyclers must ensure the environment after entering that recyclers must make sure preventing leakage out there as otherwise leakage from cell to leakage leakage could leakage to allow leakage through this way or else could leakage to.

Hydrometallurgy, the primary method for battery recycling, involves dismantling, shredding and melting or dissolving materials at high heat in order to produce a powdery black mass composed of cathode metals (nickel, manganese and cobalt) mixed with lithium hydroxide or carbonate that can then be used to produce new lithium-ion batteries or sold as raw material to other battery manufacturers.

Recyclers recognize that recycling batteries is costly and energy intensive, so in order to lower their environmental impact they have developed innovative techniques to make the process more cost effective. Some have developed more sophisticated approaches using chemical reactions rather than high temperatures to recover cathode metals; this allows recyclers to utilize various battery chemistries while avoiding the costs associated with melting or dissolving materials in liquid.

Northvolt, a Swedish battery recycling plant operator, has successfully established one recycling facility in Skelleftea and will open another near their production plant in Quebec in 2024 using Revolt Ett technology – which converts nickel, manganese, and cobalt sulfates into hydroxides using hydrometallurgical processes; then these recycled materials can either be used to make Northvolt’s own new batteries or sold to other battery makers for recycling purposes.

Northvolt’s Revolt Ett facility can handle most battery chemistries, with its primary focus on those containing nickel and cobalt as these materials are more difficult to source than lithium ions used by batteries. Northvolt is working on other methods which will enable it to recycle more battery components – like polymer housings and anodes – effectively.

Researchers have also made progress in refurbishing cathodes, the delicate crystal that supplies batteries with their proper voltage. A study published in Joule found that batteries using recycled cathodes performed just as effectively as those made up from newly mined cathodes.

Direct Recycling

Direct recycling is a method that directly recovers, regenerates and reuses battery components without first dismantling their chemical structure. As an emerging approach for lithium-ion battery (LIB) recycling, direct recycling can significantly enhance recycling efficiency while simultaneously minimizing economic and environmental footprints. Direct recycling has proven its worth compared to pyrometallurgy or hydrometallurgy when considering cost effectiveness, energy efficiency, sustainability as well as material structure preservation that shortens overall recycling paths while improving material quality regenerated materials.

But this strategy faces numerous barriers that hinder its practical implementation, from disassembling, sorting, and separation processes to technological limitations and societal concerns.

Researchers and recyclers alike are working hard to develop improved direct recycling techniques that ensure commercial viability, such as Kyburz Switzerland’s process for sawing open end-of-life batteries with an innovative stripping technique and then reforming their electrodes back into new cells, making this method more efficient than traditional shredding and separation methods.

This process has been customized for various LIB cell chemistries, as well as cathode and anode materials. This technology should increase battery production efficiency while decreasing mining and processing activities that are usually costly, resource intensive, and damaging to the environment.

Consideration should also be given to how these technologies could influence a circular economy. Battery manufacturers must prioritize recycling efforts, promote standardization efforts and implement protocols for sharing information. By doing this, waste can be reduced while creating an efficient supply chain which supplies key raw materials to the global battery manufacturing industry. Companies interested in working together with Argonne on these efforts may contact Jeff Spangenberger, Research Group Leader for Materials Recycling and Reactions Group at Argonne National Laboratory. Argonne National Laboratory provides solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology through fundamental and applied research in virtually every scientific discipline. Operated by UChicago Argonne LLC on behalf of the Department of Energy Office of Science.