Towards direct recycling of lithium-ion batteries via sustainable and low-energy processes

The rapid growth of the electric vehicle (EV) market is a decisive step towards achieving the global greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets, but will be accompanied by a dramatic increase in the spent battery volume in the future.[1,2]

In principle, spent batteries represent a valuable secondary material source that provides access to strategic and critical raw materials. However, there is still a need to develop efficient, sustainable, and low-energy recycling processes that allow easy access to this material source. To date, the main recycling processes for batteries are pyro- and hydrometallurgy, but direct recycling is gaining interest as an alternative.[3] The latter approach has the decisive advantage that the materials are not “downcycling” into precursors, but will be conserved in their original structure (e.g. Li(Ni,Co,Mn)O2 instead of LiOH and Ni-/Co-/Mn-sulfate), which in principle allows the direct re-use of these materials in the fabrication of new batteries. While pyro- and hydrometallurgy processes have already been industrialized by various companies, the technology readiness level of direct recycling is rather low and many challenges remain.

Herein, we present an overview on the latest results of the transnational project RecyLIB that was funded under the EU Co-funded ERA-MIN Joint Call 2021.[4] Within the RecyLIB project, the objective is the research and development of a novel process chain for the direct recycling of lithium-ion batteries with subsequent reintegration of the recovered electrode material into new electrodes via a solventless melt manufacturing process. With an expected reuse of up to 25 wt% of recycled electrode material in the electrode manufacturing process and the avoidance of toxic solvents in the cathode production, RecyLIB is expected to have a direct impact on the growing EU battery production ecosystem.

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[1] J. A. Fuinhas et al., Sustainability, 2021, 13, 13611.

[2] Z. J. Baum, R. E. Bird, X. Yu, J. Ma, ACS Energy Lett., 2022, 2, 712 – 719.

[3] A. Prazanová, V. Knap, D.-I. Stroe, Energies, 2022, 15, 1086.

[4] www.recylib.eu