I-Corps: Recovery of lithium and related materials from spent lithium batteries and lithium battery industry electrode waste

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a lithium battery recycling process to recover essential metals. With the drive towards less pollution and the adoption of electric technologies such as electric vehicles, battery demand is predicted to increase along with battery waste. The proposed process may help to ensure the reliable supply of essential resources to the local lithium battery market as well as the safe and effective treatment of lithium battery waste. In addition, the process may allow for cost savings during the metal recovery process and aid in supplementing the local supply of metals for lithium-based energy storage technology manufacture. The proposed efficient battery waste process may serve to prevent improper lithium battery waste management and foster sustainability within the lithium battery market. This I-Corps project is based on the development of a recycling process for the recovery of metal-based materials from waste associated with lithium batteries. The proposed process applies a hydroiodic acid-based solution for the selective recovery via leaching of critical metals from lithium battery cathode material. In conventional hydrometallurgical lithium battery recycling operations, elevated temperatures are used to improve process kinetics and a reducing agent is added to the leaching media to improve cathode metal recoveries. However, this results in costs associated with energy requirements to achieve high temperatures and the purchase of reducing agents. In addition, these systems result in the production of toxic gaseous compounds such as chlorine, nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides. The proposed process has been shown to recover metals, on average, nine times faster, at temperatures close to ambient in the absence of a reducing agent, and without toxic gas production. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.