A solid-state electrolysis process for upcycling aluminium scrap
A solid-state electrolysis process for upcycling aluminium scrap
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DOI：
10.1038/s41586-022-04748-4
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发表时间：
2022-04-13
期刊：
影响因子：
64.8
通讯作者：
Nagasaka, Tetsuya
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Lu, Xin;Zhang, Zhengyang;Nagasaka, Tetsuya
如今利用重熔技术的铝废料的回收降低了铝的质量，并且这种降低的回收铝的最终归宿是铝铸造合金（1-9）。随着消费者选择电池驱动的电动汽车而不是内燃机汽车，预计对高档铝的需求将增加，预计对低级再生铝的需求将下降，这些再生铝主要用于生产内燃机（2，7，10，11）。为了满足未来对高等级铝的需求，需要一种新的铝回收方法，能够将废料提升到与原铝相似的水平（2- 4、7、11）。在这里，我们提出了一个固态电解（SSE）过程中使用熔盐的回收铝废料。上证所生产的铝的纯度与铝铸造合金生产的原铝相当。此外，工业SSE的能源消耗估计不到原铝生产过程的一半。通过有效回收铝废料，可以持续满足对高品位铝的需求。通过使用这种高效、低能耗的工艺，铝循环的真正可持续性是可以预见的。
The recycling of aluminium scrap today utilizing a remelting technique downgrades the quality of the aluminium, and the final sink of this downgraded recycled aluminium is aluminium casting alloys(1-9). The predicted increase in demand for high-grade aluminium as consumers choose battery-powered electric vehicles over internal combustion engine vehicles is expected to be accompanied by a drop in the demand for low-grade recycled aluminium, which is mostly used in the production of internal combustion engines(2,7,10,11). To meet the demand for high-grade aluminium in the future, a new aluminium recycling method capable of upgrading scrap to a level similar to that of primary aluminium is required(2-4,7,11). Here we propose a solid-state electrolysis (SSE) process using molten salts for upcycling aluminium scrap. The SSE produces aluminium with a purity comparable to that of primary aluminium from aluminium casting alloys. Moreover, the energy consumption of the industrial SSE is estimated to be less than half that of the primary aluminium production process. By effectively recycling aluminium scrap, it could be possible to consistently meet demand for high-grade aluminium. True sustainability in the aluminium cycle is foreseeable with the use of this efficient, low-energy-consuming process.