Scientists from the University of Leicester, England, have developed a technique to recycle lithium batteries in a sustainable way.
It is essentially based on the use of cooking oil and water. It allows to purify the black mass of the batteries in minutes and at room temperature, without the need for thermal treatments or corrosive acids.
Recycling lithium batteries with oil and water
Researchers have developed a sustainable technique to extract valuable metals from used batteries using a mixture of water and cooking oil.
What the technique consists of.
The technology, which is in the process of being patented, allows to purify the “black mass” of lithium-ion batteries in minutes and at room temperature.
This black mass is a mixture of anode and cathode materials, along with other low-value compounds.
Given the increasing use of these batteries in electronics and electric vehicles, this method could represent a more economical and sustainable solution for recycling, supporting the transition to ecological technologies.
Cooking oil and water are used.
The research, led by Professor Andy Abbott and Dr. Jake Yang as part of the ReLiB project of the Faraday Institution, managed to recover quality metals for batteries.
This is done through nanoemulsions formed from a small amount of cooking oil in water.
Normally, water and oil do not mix without the presence of an emulsifying agent, such as soap. However, with the application of ultrasound, stable oil nano-droplets are generated for weeks.
These oil droplets have the property of adhering to the surface of the carbon present in the black mass, which acts as a “glue” that binds the hydrophobic graphite particles into clusters that float in the water.
Meanwhile, the valuable metal oxides of lithium, nickel, and cobalt remain at the bottom and can be easily collected.
Current recycling methods
This technique represents a sustainable and ecological version of conventional recycling methods.
The latter use high temperatures in furnaces to burn the graphite, which increases the carbon footprint of the electric vehicles’ value chain.
Additionally, concentrated and corrosive acids are used, reducing high-quality materials to lower-value battery precursors.
In contrast, the emulsion-based technique allows for short-loop recycling, preserving the crystalline structure of the recovered materials.
This means that the components can be directly reused in the manufacturing of new battery cells without the need for additional processes, unlike pyro and hydrometallurgical methods.
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