Direct Recycling of End-of-Life Cathode Material Through Redox Chemistry Mediators

Conference · Wed Feb 14 04:00:00 EST 2024

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1149/MA2022-02261029mtgabs· OSTI ID:2310349

Kirwa, Cyrus; Coyle, Jaclyn; Luo, Hongmei

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are ideal for electric vehicles and electronic devices because of their high-power density and outstanding cycle life. The need for recycled LIBs material is pivotal for the sustainability of the renewable energy industry. The recycling process needs to be both economically and environmentally conscious. Direct recycling is cheaper and generates the least amount of waste compared to pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical processes. Direct recycling explored in this work is useful for reclaiming precious minerals from the End-of-Life (EOL) LIBs material. The EOL material has varying lithium deficiency, hence, redox mediator relithiation restores the lithium content rapidly and at low cost. The redox mechanism relithiate EOL cathode material by shuttling charges very fast between lithium metal and EOL cathode material. The redox mediator is oxidized to create lithium rich solvent and reduced to relithiate EOL cathode material. However, the process is sensitive to pH changes. The redox reaction creates acidic solvent, which may cause lithium leaching. Therefore, use of lithium hydroxide (LiOH) to remove impurities on the surface of the EOL material and as a lithium source creates a basic solution to prevent lithium leaching and relithiate EOL material. This approach will potentially pave way for fast quality cathode material recovery at a low cost.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Transportation Office. Vehicle Technologies Office
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 2310349
• Report Number(s): NREL/PR-5900-86361; MainId:87134; UUID:5bdd461f-6894-4f29-ab9f-8a50e44d8a92; MainAdminId:71868
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION
ENERGY STORAGE
EOL
LIBs
cathode material
end-of-life
lithium-ion battery
recycling
redox mediator
relithiation