2024 R&D 100 Award for Direct Recycling and Remanufacturing of Li-Ion Battery Electrode Scraps

ORNL scientists have developed a new approach to directly recycle battery scraps using a green solvent. This method efficiently separates electrode materials from metal foils at lower temperatures without impacting their quality. The recovered materials are ready for reuse in new batteries, reducing costs and environmental impact. This direct recycling process can be integrated into existing manufacturing lines with minimal investment, potentially saving more than 10% in production costs and supporting the sustainability of battery manufacturing.

Lithium-ion batteries are essential in electronics, electric vehicles and renewable energy storage, leading to a booming market, particularly for EV batteries. However, battery manufacturing wastes valuable materials such as cobalt, lithium, nickel, copper and graphite, with up to 10% of these cathode materials being discarded. Traditional recycling methods, such as pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy, are costly and complex, often breaking down materials too much or requiring the use of harsh chemicals.

The recovered materials can be directly re-manufactured as new electrodes and can be seamlessly reintegrated into fresh batteries through the same production lines while delivering equivalent electrochemical performance. Overall, this new direct recovery and reuse approach is a sustainable process that greatly advances competitiveness of battery manufacturers.

This work was funded by DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Office in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

Developers of this technology are Ilias Belharouak, Yaocai Bai, Lu Yu, Ali Abouimrane, and Ruhul Amin of ORNL; and Vivek R. Shinde Patil and Shibani Shinde Patil of Appalachian Renewal Technologies.