PFI-TT: Next-Generation, Low-Cost, and Sustainable Recycling of Lithium-ion Batteries

University Of California-San Diego, La Jolla CA

Investigators

Abstract

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation – Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project is to design and develop novel approaches to recycle and re-manufacture lithium-ion Batteries (LIBs) by recapturing valuable materials and thus mitigating environmental impacts. The large consumption of LIBs is poised to increase demand and resource shortages of lithium, critical metals, and graphite. The recycling of these valuable metals may reduce the overall cost of LIB manufacturing as a significant portion of the battery cost comes from these materials. The economic recycling of spent batteries is quite challenging. This project will involve student/researcher participation to develop the entrepreneurial skills needed to take the next-generation, low-cost, and sustainable LIB recycling technology to market. This project seeks to enhance fundamental understanding of the correlation between processing conditions and composition/structure properties of LIB materials. Such knowledge may be applied to scale up and commercialization of the next-generation technology for low-cost and sustainable LIB recycling. This project also seeks to increase the participation of women and minority students in entrepreneurial and technical training. The proposed project aims to improve and scale up advanced direct recycling technologies for spent LIBs to both recapture valuable materials and mitigate environmental pollution. The current industrial recycling methods, such as pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical processes, are costly with secondary pollution and limited profits. In contrast, the proposed direct recycling method offers a pathway to reduce the processing steps, reducting both cost and environmental issues. While the direct recycling process has been demonstrated in small laboratory scale, it has not been validated at commercially-relevant scales due to complications of material compositions and structural changes during scaling up. This project seeks to fill the remaining technological gaps and scale up the direct recycling process to kilogram levels of active materials for practical evaluation. The goals will be achieved through integrating efforts in: (1) examining and analyzing sorted battery electrode materials from different separation methods, (2) improving, optimizing and scaling up materials relithiation with a safe and low-cost process; (3) recycling active materials to accommodate the evolution of battery materials chemistry, (4) testing and evaluation of the performance of recycled materials to meet target performance, and (5) conducting life-cycle analysis to further guide the improvement of the entire direct recycling process. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.