The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will develop process conditions, recycled materials, and recycling of new battery technologies. Phase I demonstrated that the innovative recycling process can produce materials for new batteries from spent batteries. The Phase II recycling research objectives will (1) Survey advanced battery technologies (2) Improve process efficiency and (3) Recondition used materials. Starting with spent batteries, the project recovers materials, examines utility, and develops methods for recondition based upon physical or chemical limiting issues. The anticipated result of this development is establishment of the most efficient process to recycle high performance battery materials.
The proposed project establishes the most environmentally friendly advanced battery recycling technology as the solution to the next generation's significant environmental challenge. Today's battery recycling options inefficiently bury, burn, or melt spent batteries. This project addresses needs from battery-reliant industries for low-cost recycling with minimal environmental impact; the developed recycling process is the basis for jobs fundamental to the future portable electronics and electrified vehicle markets. The innovation is based upon knowledge from battery life-limiting mechanisms coupled with green-chemical processing techniques. The research actively involves undergraduate researchers at Willamette University in the development and commercialization of energy efficient technologies.
This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project, "Recycling Advanced Batteries", developed clean technology that produces new and improved lithium-ion battery materials starting from spent electronic scrap. And it developed a large battery service technique to reinstate performance after significant use and fade in order to extend the useful life. Advanced recycling of spent cells offers a low emission, energy efficient, new source of critical material for advanced batteries. Starting with used laptop batteries, this project developed high performance, low cost, manufacturing qualified advanced battery material. An example battery is shown in the Prototype picture. Not only is the active material used to make the battery recycled; it is better than the originally manufactured material. Specifically, it has a 20% increase in capacity, purity specifications that exceed manufacturing demands, and it is made using < 10% the energy required to retrieve the original material using smelt or chemically intensive recycling. The energy diagram gives an overview for high efficiency recycling developed in the project for cobalt. This technology provides an attractive source of advanced material that inexpensively avoids sulfur and arsenic emission, and conserves conflict and critical materials. Furthermore, the technology extends to various advanced battery chemistries popular now, and those developing in the future. The technology provides three opportunities for the battery industry to cut costs: 1. Low cost material from scrap sources rather than intensive mining. 2. Extend the life of the battery and materials. 3. Reduce or remove the end-of-life fee for pack disposal: Reduce the total cost of ownership for lithium-ion batteries The rejuvenation process developed in the project increases battery lifetime through a periodic service of whole, large batteries. The research outcomes include successful addition of capacity to a used, large, electric vehicle battery; battery design for rejuvenation; and contributions to knowledge and understanding of life-limiting processes in capacity fade for lithium-ion batteries. The rejuvenation slide shows the successful addition of capacity to a prototypical, high capacity cell. This Phase II project developed the most environmentally friendly advanced recycling technology as the solution to the growing challenges regarding electronic scrap batteries. Today’s electronic-scrap battery recycling options are based upon Bronze Age technologies to bury, smelt, or chemically dissolve spent batteries. These are technically mismatched for todays advanced battery chemistries, they cannot reduce the cost of battery manufacturing or ownership, which are important goals for the battery industry. The clean and green technology developed in this process provides for a low cost, environmentally sound life cycle management plan that can work to achieve those goals. The developmental vision is a recycling solution that will produce jobs and resources from large and small batteries, from electronic scrap to electric vehicles. The research contributed to the growing model for capacity fade in advanced batteries, developed green-chemical process technology, and collaborated with undergraduate researchers in the development of technology for commercialization.
