SBIR Phase II: Electrochemical Separation Device for Co-Ni Recovery from Li-ion Batteries

小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第二阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力包括为回收钴等关键金属提供高通量系统，以减少目前用于生产制造材料的传统能源密集型采矿和精炼工艺。最重要的是，该项目将有助于确保关键材料的供应，减少美国对外国供应链的依赖，并保证电池材料的二次来源。新的国内供应也将减少与手工采矿相关的社会和人类健康影响，并显著减少电池和电动汽车对环境的影响。SBIR第二阶段项目建议(1)验证基于新型电提取纳米技术的分离技术在电池回收和钴开采领域的应用，(2)验证新的增值产品(电池正极前体材料)，以满足这一快速增长的市场，使传统的精炼阶段变得不必要。所提出的电萃取工艺利用流水电解产生高局部浓度的氢氧化物，以金属氢氧化物的形式沉淀过渡金属。这一理解将允许调整设备的特定金属或混合金属沉淀的操作条件，例如，在电池化学计量比处沉淀Ni-Mn-Co氢氧化物或高度选择性地沉淀单个金属。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。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project includes providing a high-throughput system for recycling critical metals like cobalt to reduce the conventional energy-intensive mining and refining processes used to produce materials for manufacturing today. Most importantly, this project will help secure a supply of critical materials, reducing the United States’ reliance on foreign supply chains and guaranteeing a secondary source of battery materials. A new, domestic supply will also reduce the social and human health impacts associated with artisanal mining, and significantly reduce the environmental impact of batteries and electric vehicles.This SBIR Phase II project proposes to (1) validate novel electro-extraction nanotechnology based separations technology in the battery recycling and cobalt mining space, and (2) validate a new, value-added product (a battery cathode precursor material) for this rapidly growing market, rendering the conventional refining stages unnecessary. The proposed electroextraction process utilizes flow-through water electrolysis to produce high local concentrations of hydroxide to precipitate transition metals as metal hydroxides. This understanding will allow tuning the device operating conditions for metal or mixed-metal specific precipitation, for example, the precipitation of Ni-Mn-Co hydroxides at battery stoichiometries or highly selective precipitation of individual metals.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.