Lithium-ion batteries are a staple of modern life, powering everything from electric cars to telephones. However, they ultimately wear out, which has an impact on the environment. A University of Alberta researcher is now looking at more environmentally friendly methods to recycle and regenerate used batteries. Anil Kumar Vinayak, a master’s student at the Faculty of Engineering, is experimenting with a recovery technique for metals like lithium and cobalt that are used in batteries, and he is basing his work on the ideas of a circular economy.
The concept is built on a closed-loop system in which goods and the parts that make them are used to the utmost extent possible before being, wherever possible, recycled, reused, regenerated, upcycled, or repaired to reduce waste and pollution. Vinayak feels that adopting this strategy would help in alleviating a significant portion of the problems we have in terms of waste management and related environmental concerns since garbage from electrical and electronic equipment has been quickly piling up over the last decade.
The idea is also “a wonderful model” for tackling a number of problems in battery manufacture, such as the price and dependency on mining for raw materials, supply chain bottlenecks, and energy consumption, he continues. Vinayak, who is based in professor Xiaolei Wang’s lab, is giving hydrometallurgy a green makeover. It is one of the procedures now used to recover metals from old batteries so they may be used to make new ones.
Vinayak is experimenting with softer, organic chemicals that do not affect the environment to recycle the metals from the cathode—the positive side of the battery—instead of the process’ usual usage of harsh mineral-based acids. Chemical mixes that are less corrosive and hazardous also cost less to maintain and handle for the industry. Organic substitutes are also a more cost-effective choice for recycling businesses that operate in the niche since they can be reused, according to Vinayak.
He’s using a similar technique to improve the sustainability of the present process for renewing graphite, a mineral used in the anode, the negative side of the battery. The graphite may be cleaned up and fixed, then utilised in fresh batteries or repaired for other uses like lubricants.
By “doping” the metal from used cathodes with nickel and manganese, Vinayak is continuing work on earlier University of Alberta studies to upcycle the metal and see whether battery capacity can be enhanced. He observes that all of the studies have shown encouraging performance outcomes.
More than 80% of the lithium from the used batteries could be recovered using Vinayak’s organic acid combinations, and “if that percentage comes closer to the 100% mark, it can be scaled up for the industry,” he claims. Furthermore, he says, the use of organic acids may be adopted “very rapidly” since the hydrometallurgical approach is already widely used. Vinayak also completely regenerated the graphite in used anodes, which is a step in the direction of greater sustainability. It’s wonderful to use an environmentally friendly option to get outcomes that are equivalent to those of current approaches.
Vinayak thinks that revitalising outdated batteries in a more environmentally friendly manner would ultimately benefit financial performance. “The businesses that rely on the metals that are often present in batteries, such as the automotive and battery industries, benefit from this kind of work. The effect is immediate and highly significant.
