A team of scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames National Laboratory has developed a new recycling process for extracting lithium from spent batteries.
The new process does not require chemicals or high heat, creating hope for more efficient and cheaper lithium-ion battery recycling in the future, the researchers said.
The scientists are calling the process, which requires only water and carbon dioxide, Battery Recycling and Water Splitting (BRAWS) technology. Current methods of battery recycling are more costly, have a higher environmental impact, or both.
"Because lithium is very reactive, when we put that anode in water, it divides the water molecule by stripping the oxygen and producing hydrogen as a gas, which can be recovered safely and used as a fuel," said Ikenna Nlebedim, a scientist at Ames Lab and leader of the research team. "Carbon dioxide is consumed in the process, so it has the added benefit of cleaning up the environment."
Lithium-ion batteries are used in many everyday devices, including phones, computers, and, perhaps most notably, electric vehicles.
Unlike traditional, gas-powered cars, EVs produce no tailpipe air pollution while in use. And because they are powered by more efficient energy sources, such as the electricity grid or home solar panels, they release much less planet-overheating gases than combusting gasoline in a car, which wastes a lot of its energy to unused heat.
However, the main drawback of EVs comes from the batteries, which rely on nonrenewable rare metals like lithium. The mining process for such metals causes extensive environmental harm. That's why it is crucial that we develop more efficient processes for recycling these batteries, reducing the need for more mining.
The Ames Lab scientists believe that is exactly what they have done.
"Recycling tends to be something that requires economic sustainability. One way to sustain recycling is to make profit with everything you can. Recovering lithium, other parts of the battery, and producing green hydrogen at the same time strengthens the economics of our process," Nlebedim said.
🗣️ Which factor would most effectively motivate you to recycle your old batteries?
🔘 Getting money back 💰
🔘 Decluttering my junk drawer ✨
🔘 Helping the planet 🌎
🔘 I don't recycle batteries ❌
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
Other recent breakthroughs in developing cheaper, less power-intensive lithium battery recycling methods include one from Rice University that involves flash-heating spent batteries to retrieve the valuable metals inside.
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