London
Researchers in Britain and the United States have found
ways to recycle electric vehicle batteries that can drastically cut costs
and carbon emissions.
The techniques involve retrieving parts of the battery so
they can be reused and it would help the auto industry tackle criticism that
that even though EVs reduce emissions over their lifetime, they start out with a
heavy carbon footprint of mined materials.
The process can increase sustainable supplies for an
expected surge in demand.
As national governments and regions race to secure
supplies for an expected acceleration in EV demand, the
breakthroughs could make valuable supplies of materials such as cobalt
and and nickel go further. They would also reduce dependence on China and
difficult mining jurisdictions.
Current recycling methods also rely on shredding the batteries into very small pieces, known as black mass, which is then processed into metals such as cobalt and nickel. Researchers from the University of Leicester and the University of Birmingham working on the Faraday Institution's ReLib project have found a way to use ultrasonic waves to recycle the cathode and anode without shredding and and have applied for a patent.
The technology recovers the
cathode powder made up of cobalt, nickel and manganese from the aluminium
sheet, to which it is glued in the battery manufacture. The anode powder,
which would typically be graphite, is separated from the copper sheet. A switch
to a practice known as direct recycling, which would preserve components such
as the cathode and anode, could drastically reduce energy waste and
manufacturing cost.
Early electric vehicle battery cells typically used a
cathode with equal amounts of nickel, manganese, cobalt or 1-1-1. This has
changed in recent years as manufacturers seek to reduce costs and cathode
chemistries can be 5-3-2, 6-2-2 or 8-1-1.
The approach at Faraday's ReLib project is to blend recycled with virgin material to get
the required ratios of nickel, manganese and cobalt.
Source: The Times of India
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