NSF TTP-T: Direct Electrode-to-Electrode Regeneration Technology for Short Loop Battery Recycling

This project is funded through the NSF Translation to Practice (TTP) program, which supports efforts to turn research discoveries into practical tools that benefit communities, industry, and society. Recycling batteries is essential to secure the nation’s energy future, reduce reliance on foreign materials, and lower environmental impacts. Today, the United States depends heavily on imported critical materials used in batteries, leaving supply chains vulnerable to disruption and price volatility. At the same time, millions of tons of battery waste are expected globally in the coming decades. Current recycling methods are energy-intensive, costly, and generate significant chemical waste. Under this TTP-T project, a new approach to battery recycling is developed that can reduce cost, energy use, and environmental impact while strengthening domestic manufacturing and supply chain resilience. The project focuses on creating a more efficient “closed-loop” system where used batteries are directly restored and reused, helping reduce the need for new mining and enabling more resilient energy storage technologies. This effort also includes partnerships with industry and training opportunities for students, preparing a skilled workforce for emerging jobs in battery manufacturing, recycling, and energy technologies. This project advances a novel direct electrode-to-electrode regeneration (DEER) technology that enables reuse of battery electrodes without dismantling them into raw materials or re-manufacturing from scratch. Unlike conventional recycling or existing direct recycling approaches, this method preserves the structure of coated electrode sheets, eliminating multiple processing steps such as material separation, chemical refining, and electrode re-fabrication. The research aims to validate, improve, and scale this process using real end-of-life electric vehicle batteries provided by industry partners, addressing challenges related to variability in spent materials. Experimental studies are integrated with data-driven and machine learning frameworks to guide the process and decision-making. The project will demonstrate a prototype closed-loop recycling system, including large-area electrode regeneration and independent validation of battery performance recovery. Life cycle and techno-economic analyses will quantify environmental and cost benefits relative to existing methods. The effort is further supported by industry, national lab, and academic collaborations, and includes customer discovery and commercialization pathways to accelerate the translation of this technology into practice. 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.