(Invited) Lithium-Ion Battery Direct Recycling Through Effective Electrochemical Intercalation
Authors: Yang Tairan , Lu Yingqi , Li Liurui , Li Zheng 
Published: December 2020

The Nobel Prize winning technology lithium-ion battery (LIB) has seen an annual market growth rate of 24% over the last decade. This rapid market expansion brings a huge amount of hazardous battery waste from end-of-life (EOL) disposal and creates concerns over the long-term sustainability of critical elements for producing batteries. There is an urgent need to develop effective battery recycling infrastructure to address these challenges. The incumbent indirect pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical recycling methods lead to high energy consumption and process cost, water contamination and low-value elemental products. [1,2] In contrast,
direct recycling process that extract and restore high-value cathode materials (2-10 times more valuable than their corresponding elemental constituents depending on the chemistries used [3]) to their virgin composition, structure, morphology and electrochemical performance with minimal energy and environmental impact. We have developed disassembly automation and materials regeneration processes for direct recycling of LIBs. [4,5] The pouch cell with discrete electrode sheets separated via continuous z-folding separator dominates the design of the commercially available LIBs and is used here to introduce our direct disassembly process. The customized automatic disassembly machinery safely dismantles the cell pouch, separating anode and cathode sheets, and sort cell components (i.e., cathode sheets, anode sheets and separators) into different waste streams. The EOL cathode materials are retrieved and separated for relithiation via an effective electrochemical intercalation method. The dried cathode materials are then heat-treated after which the regenerated cathode materials exhibit physical properties and electrochemical performance is comparable to virgin commercial materials.[5]

[1] L. Gaines, K. Richa, J. Spangenberger, Key issues for Li-ion battery recycling, MRS Energy Sustain. 5 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1557/mre.2018.13.

[2] G. Harper, R. Sommerville, E. Kendrick, L. Driscoll, P. Slater, R. Stolkin, A. Walton, P. Christensen, O. Heidrich, S. Lambert, A. Abbott, K. Ryder, L. Gaines, P. Anderson, Recycling lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles, Nature. 575 (2019) 75–86. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1682-5.

[3] J.B. Dunn, L. Gaines, J.C. Kelly, K.G. Gallagher, Life Cycle Analysis Summary for Automotive Lithiumion Battery Production and Recycling, in: R.E. Kirchain, B. Blanpain, C. Meskers, E. Olivetti, D. Apelian, J. Howarter, A. Kvithyld, B. Mishra, N.R. Neelameggham, J. Spangenberger (Eds.), Rewas 2016 Mater. Resour. Sustain., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2016: pp. 73–79. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119275039.ch11.

[4] L. Li, P. Zheng, T. Yang, R. Sturges, M.W. Ellis, Z. Li, Disassembly Automation for Recycling End-of-Life Lithium-Ion Pouch Cells, JOM. 71 (2019) 4457–4464. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-019-03778-0.

[5] T. Yang, Y. Lu, L. Li, D. Ge, H. Yang, W. Leng, H. Zhou, X. Han, N. Schmidt, M. Ellis, Z. Li, An Effective Relithiation Process for Recycling Lithium-Ion Battery Cathode Materials, Adv. Sustain. Syst. n/a (n.d.) 1900088. https://doi.org/10.1002/adsu.201900088.