Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

New lithium recycling method is cleaner and cheaper...It could help ensure we have all the batteries we need for the clean energy future.
FreeThink ^ | April 2, 2023 | By Kristin Houser

Posted on 04/04/2023 10:46:42 AM PDT by Red Badger

An inexpensive, environmentally friendly technique for lithium recycling could help ensure we have enough of the valuable metal to power the clean energy future — if it works as well in the real world as it does in the lab.

The challenge: Transitioning to electric vehicles (EVs) is a key part of combating climate change, and because lithium-ion batteries can store a lot of energy for their size, they’re our best option (so far) for powering them.

The lithium needed to create those batteries is a finite resource, though, and mining it is environmentally destructive. Demand for lithium extends beyond EVs, too, as lithium-ion batteries are used in laptops, smartphones, and even TVs.

“This method … enables inexpensive, energy-efficient, and environmentally compatible recycling.”

Lithium recycling: While we can extract lithium and other useful metals from old batteries after they die, the standard recycling process is expensive, inefficient, and requires extreme heat or corrosive chemicals. It’s one reason why the vast majority of lithium batteries still don’t get recycled, and many end up in landfills.

Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have developed a new lithium recycling technique that works at low temperatures, without harsh chemicals.

“The method can be applied … for a large range of commercially available lithium-ion batteries,” said first author Oleksandr Dolotko. “It enables inexpensive, energy-efficient, and environmentally compatible recycling.”

How it works: The KIT team’s lithium recycling method starts with adding some aluminum foil to a batteries’ cathode and grinding it all up in a “ball mill” — a hollow, spinning cylinder containing balls that smash up whatever is in the container.

The mechanical force of the milling causes a chemical reaction between the aluminum and the cathode materials — though even the researchers aren’t exactly sure why.

“It is really hard to say how it happens,” Dolotko told Nature.

“One of the most challenging parts of the invention is finished – the technique works.”

After taking the ground up mixture out of the mill, they add hot water (194 F). When the water is evaporated off, lithium carbonate — a useful material that can be used to make new batteries — is left.

Using this process, the researchers say they were able to recover 70% of the lithium in the cathode materials, and it worked with the cathode materials found in a range of different lithium-ion batteries.

For comparison, some battery recycling companies in the US claim to recover 95%-98% of the critical materials from lithium-ion batteries.

The cold water: In their study, published in Communications Chemistry, the researchers attempted to remove lithium from the materials typically found in the cathodes of lithium-ion batteries — they didn’t actually start with used up battery cathodes, which might contain impurities.

However, they don’t believe those impurities would have much of an effect on the lithium recycling process.

“The discovered technology presented in this article can be applied to these materials without significant adjustments,” they wrote. “The reaction conditions and final recycling products are expected to be similar to the ones investigated in this work.”

The cathode is also just one part of a lithium-ion battery, and the authors concede that the recycling process might not work — or work as well — if we tried to just grind up entire batteries, meaning we’d still need the tedious step of breaking them down for recycling.

“These extra components, like a binder, graphitic anode, copper, or other additives or side products of the black mass preparation, might affect the mechanochemically-induced recycling process,” they write.

Looking ahead: The researchers are now focused on answering important questions that will determine whether their lithium recycling technique will be able to play a major role in shaping our clean energy future.

“Currently, we are taking part in two European consortia where this technology will be applied to industrially treated lithium-ion battery wastes, scaled up, and evaluated for its profitability and environmental impact,” said Dolotko.

“As inventors, we believe adopting this technology in the industry is real and achievable … One of the most challenging parts of the invention is finished – the technique works,” he continued. “Now it is time to bring it to another level, which is our next exciting step.”


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Health/Medicine; Military/Veterans; Travel
KEYWORDS: battery; ccp; china; ev; institute; karlsruhe; lithium; lithiumbatteries; recycle; saltonsea; technology; tesla
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-30 last
To: noiseman

Well done analysis, noiseman. Your comments are the opposite of “noise”. I hear melodious perspective.. and the thrilling rumble of facts.


21 posted on 04/04/2023 2:01:14 PM PDT by poconopundit (Hard oak fist in an Irish velvet glove: Kayleigh the Shillelagh we salute your work!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

“The mechanical force of the milling causes a chemical reaction between the aluminum and the cathode materials — though even the researchers aren’t exactly sure why. “It is really hard to say how it happens,””

nonsense ... the answer is easy: “SCIENCE” ...


22 posted on 04/04/2023 2:26:57 PM PDT by catnipman (In a post-covid world, ALL "science" is now political science: stolen elections have consequences)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

“... if it works as well in the real world as it does in the lab.”

Not a lot of confidence displayed there!


23 posted on 04/04/2023 2:34:11 PM PDT by RetiredTexasVet (Biden not only suffers fools and criminals, he appoints them to positions of responsibility. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

Get your New and Improved Lithium today buy it while supplies last.

Paid for by B.S. Inc.


24 posted on 04/04/2023 2:37:38 PM PDT by Vaduz (....)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: alstewartfan
You are conceding the premise, that electric cars are desirable. MOST AMERICANS DO NOT WANT THEM. Gas stations take minutes, and a full tank of gasoline lasts many hours! You know this.

Exactly. There is amply supply for the materials of EV's only if the demand for EV's isn't artificially inflated (and also if the supply for the materials isn't artificially suppressed). Everybody wins -- both EV fans and ICE fans -- if the government gets out of everybody's way. Unfortunately most EV owners don't see that. (Obviously not the few EV owners on FR.) Us conservatives shouldn't fall in the trap of arguing like Dims do and demand they all drive ICE cars like most of us want to drive. That makes us little different from them demanding we all drive EV's.

Always the solution we should fight for is less government intervention in our lives.

25 posted on 04/04/2023 2:55:12 PM PDT by Tell It Right (1st Thessalonians 5:21 -- Put everything to the test, hold fast to that which is true.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Tell It Right

Honestly, anyone who trembles over “climate chaos” is a dolt. All of the most strident celebs and pols own beachfront property. As you know, the rising tides will make Cincinnati a shoreline by 2100!

Now I have myself shuddering. lol


26 posted on 04/04/2023 3:44:53 PM PDT by alstewartfan ("She looks like she's 19 years old, sitting there like a lady with her legs crossed." Creepy Joe)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: alstewartfan
Global warming is real (sans the past decade or so of cooling), but nothing to worry about. We've been here before multiple times since Moses. Basically the Modern Warm Period is just a repeat of the Medieval Warm Period, Roman Warm Period, and Minoan Warm Period.


27 posted on 04/04/2023 4:14:09 PM PDT by Tell It Right (1st Thessalonians 5:21 -- Put everything to the test, hold fast to that which is true.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

This falls short of making “green energy” become truly viable. Why not come up with a different form of “green energy” then we can pay energy bills 3 ways instead of just 2?


28 posted on 04/05/2023 5:13:18 AM PDT by oldtech
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: oldtech

There are two forms of ‘green’ energy that they will never allow to be used:

Nuclear and geothermal.

Too green................................


29 posted on 04/05/2023 5:15:07 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

Okay.


30 posted on 04/05/2023 5:24:01 AM PDT by NetAddicted (MAGA2024)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-30 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson