STTR Phase I: A Direct Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Process Yielding Battery-Grade Cathode Materials

这个小型企业技术转移第一阶段项目提出了一种经济高效且可扩展的直接回收方法，用于从寿命结束(EOL)的锂离子电池中生产电池级正极材料。拟议的锂离子电池直接回收技术的商业化将降低与电池生产相关的能源消耗和排放，减少对电池原材料的需求，并降低锂离子电池制造成本。使用直接回收材料而不是原电池材料，将减少甚至避免采矿和加工矿石以及处置危险废物对环境的负面影响。降低电池成本将有助于更高效的电动汽车的实施，从而减少石油需求和汽车排放。最后，对报废锂离子电池正极、直接回收过程和回收材料的研究将有助于加深对非水和水介质中的插层化学以及电化学循环过程中电极退化的理解。该项目的智力优势是通过设计和论证可扩展的、可无损回收的电化学流系统和优化回收材料的后处理操作来促进直接回收技术的发展。该电化学流系统能够在任何荷电状态(SOC)下恢复EOL正极材料中丢失的锂，并且可以扩展到商业上可行的尺寸。通过直接循环工艺回收的正极材料保持了与商业原始正极材料相同的结构和形貌，并表现出同等的电化学性能。高价值正极材料的回收大大提高了锂离子电池回收的盈利能力，是业务计划的关键要素。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I project advances a cost-effective and scalable direct recycling method for producing battery-grade cathode materials from end-of-life (EOL) lithium-ion batteries. The commercialization of the proposed direct lithium-ion battery recycling technology will lower the energy consumption and emissions associated with battery production, reduce demand for raw battery materials and decrease lithium-ion battery manufacturing cost. Using directly recycled materials instead of raw battery materials will diminish or even avoid the negative environmental impacts from mining and processing ores and from disposal of hazardous waste. Reducing battery cost will facilitate the implementation of more efficient electrified vehicles, thus reducing petroleum demand and vehicle emissions. Finally, research on the end-of-life lithium-ion battery cathode, on the direct recycling process and on the recycled materials will advance the understanding of intercalation chemistry in nonaqueous and aqueous media and of electrode degradation during electrochemical cycling. The intellectual merit of this project is to advance the direct recycling technology through the design and demonstration of a scalable electrochemical flow system capable of non-destructive relithiation and the optimization of post treatment operation for the recovered materials. The electrochemical flow system is capable of restoring the lost lithium in the EOL cathode material at any state of charge (SOC) and can be scaled to a commercially viable size. The cathode materials recovered in the proposed direct recycling process retain the same structure and morphology and exhibit equivalent electrochemical performance compared to the commercial virgin cathode materials. The recovery of high-value cathode materials substantially improves the profitability of lithium-ion battery recycling and is a key element of the business plan.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.