Circular Battery Design: Investing in Profitability and Sustainability
Authors: Wolf Andreas , Nagler Felix , Daubinger Philip , Kraus Tobias , Mandel Karl Sebastian , Flegler Andreas , Giffin Guinevere A. 
Published: December 2024

Addressing the grand challenges in electrochemical energy systems is often motivated by improving sustainability in energy conversion and storage. However, the design of materials, components and systems for energy storage and conversion devices, and in particular batteries, prioritizes the performance and cost. Sustainability comes third, as, historically, a focus on advancements in sustainability has incurred penalties in terms of performance and/ or cost for most conventional products.

This interplay will certainly evolve in the coming years. Ecological and social aspects driven by legislative frameworks guarantee recycling of batteries and prevent hazardous waste in landfills. The recycling of batteries at their end of life (EoL) creates either additional cost or extra profit depending on the type and design of the battery, the available recycling technologies, as well as logistical and political aspects. The trend in the electric vehicle (EV) sector towards low-cost chemistries like lithium iron phosphate (LFP) and sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) represents a double-edged sword, as the recycling profitability of such materials is extremely low for the established pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical recycling methods.1 The direct recycling approach, where anode and cathode materials maintain their structure and functionality, holds the potential to make recycling profitable also for low-cost chemistries.2 However, direct recycling, which faces major processing challenges, necessitates a shift in battery design priorities.

In this work, we apply the R9 framework
3 for circular economies onto the battery value chain to identify opportunities and define actions required from various stakeholders along the value chain to overcome the mindset of linear economies. Design for circularity is considered as an enabler for direct recycling and a key tipping element for reducing cost and increasing sustainability in battery production and disposition concurrently (Figure 1a). We elaborate on possible design strategies on the cell level to enable more efficient dismantling of batteries to guarantee higher purity in material waste streams, which is crucial for active material regeneration (Figure 1b). Trigger mechanisms to weaken interfaces between pouch foils, the current collector and electrodes, as well as the interface between primary active material particles and electrode additives include inductively heatable nanoparticles, blowing agents and supraparticulate microbombs.

With this work we intend to highlight the relevance of design for circularity and want to invigorate the discussion on how to balance the compromise between performance, cost and sustainability aspects with regard to the design of materials, components and systems for energy storage and conversion devices.

[1] J. Neumann, M. Petranikova, M. Meeus, J. D. Gamarra, R. Younesi, M. Winter, S. Nowak, Advanced Energy Materials
2022, 12.

[2] L. Lander, T. Cleaver, M. A. Rajaeifar, V. Nguyen-Tien, R. J. R. Elliott, O. Heidrich, E. Kendrick, J. S. Edge, G. Offer, iScience
2021, 24, 102787

[3] Potting j., Hekkert M., Worrell E., Hanemaaijeer A., Circular economy: Measuring innovation in the product chain
2017

Figure 1