ULTRAsound-assisted recycling of Lithium and Critical metals from spent lithium-ion batteries (ULTRALiC)

随着锂离子电池(LIB)需求的不断增长，特别是电动汽车(EV)使用量的指数级增长，预计废LIB的数量将会激增，新电池和其他技术对关键金属的需求也将激增。废旧垃圾中含有重金属、有机化学品、塑料等，对环境危害很大。它们还含有有价值的金属镍、钴、锰、锂，这将造成资源的浪费，没有合理的回收利用。因此，回收废旧锂离子电池对于保护环境和节约资源是必要的。目前使用的所有最先进的电池回收方法都涉及高能源要求，使用对环境有害的化学品，并以不适合循环经济的方式回收材料。因此，目前只有不到5%的LIB被回收利用。制造商更喜欢使用新的原材料，而不是投资回收废旧电池。该项目旨在开发能够从废锂电池中回收锂和其他关键金属的技术。回收将直接从电池的电极进行，而不会粉碎电池的部件。超声波将被用来帮助从电极上剥离活性金属并将其回收。与目前的工业方法不同，该过程将简单且具有成本效益，并将使金属能够回收到足以在新电池中重复使用的纯度等级。该项目的成功将有助于锂离子电池领域的高效循环经济，从而促进电动汽车行业，使公众相信电动汽车的使用不会对环境和自然资源造成损害。

With the ever-growing demand for Lithium-Ion Batteries (LIBs), especially due to the exponential expansion of electrical vehicles (EV) usage, it is anticipated there will be an explosion in the number of spent LIB's, and the need for key metals for new batteries and other technologies. Spent LIBs contain heavy metals, organic chemicals, plastics, _etc._, which will cause great harm to the environment. They also contain valuable metals of Ni, Co, Mn, Li, which will cause the squandering of resources without reasonable recycling. Therefore, recycling of spent LIBs is necessary for protecting the environment and saving resources.All the state-of-the-art methods used today to recycle batteries involve high energy requirements, use environmentally damaging chemicals and result in material recovery in forms that are inappropriate for reuse in a circular economy approach. As a result of this, less than 5% of LIBs are currently recycled. Manufacturers prefer using new raw material rather then investing in recycling waste batteries.This project aims at developing technology that will enable recovery of Lithium and other key metals from spent LIB's. The recovery will be carried out directly from the battery's electrodes without shredding the battery's components. Ultrasonics will be used to assist delamination of active metals from electrodes and to recover them. The process will be simple and cost-effective and, unlike the current industrial methods, will enable recovery of metals in a purity grade sufficient to re-use them in new batteries.Success of this project will contribute to efficient circular economy in the field of lithium-ion battery and, as a result, to the EV industry, creating confidence among the public that EV usage is not harmful to the environment nor to natural resources.