Sustainable electrochemical process could improve lithium-ion battery recycling

Spent lithium-ion batteries have metals that are hard to separate for recycling, but new tech by University of Illinois researchers uses electrochemistry to separate and recover the metals.

Spent lithium-ion batteries contain valuable metals that are difficult to separate from each other for recycling purposes. Used batteries present a sustainable source of these metals, especially cobalt and nickel, but the current methods used for their separation have environmental and efficiency drawbacks. A new technology uses electrochemistry to efficiently separate and recover the metals, making spent batteries a highly sustainable secondary source of cobalt and nickel – the reserves of which are currently dwindling.

Written by

Lois Yoksoulian

Lois Yoksoulian, physical sciences editor, University of Illinois