The promise of a global electric vehicle transformation has a looming problem.
The cathodes in the lithium-ion batteries typically used in electric vehicles, or EVs, are made of metal oxides that contain cobalt, a metal found in finite supplies and concentrated in one of the globe’s more precarious countries.
But an assistant professor at the University of California San Diego says he has developed a way to recycle used cathodes from spent lithium-ion batteries and restore them to the point that they work as good as new.
“Yes, it can work effectively,” said Zheng Chen, a 31-year-old who works as a nano-engineer at the Sustainable Power and Energy Center at the Jacobs School of Engineering.
The method also works on lithium cobalt oxide, which is widely used in electronic devices such as smartphones and laptops.
“In my house I have about six cellphones,” Chen said. “I have probably about five laptops. They all have lithium batteries. I thought, there is no clear system to recycle and retrieve them. From a battery researcher (standpoint) I know this is something we have to face, we have to solve.”
How it works
The process takes degraded particles from the cathodes found in a used lithium-ion battery. The particles are then pressurized in a hot, alkaline solution that contains lithium salt. Later, the particles go through a short heat-treating process called “annealing” in which temperatures reach more than 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit.
After cooling, Chen’s team takes the regenerated particles and makes new cathodes. They then test the cathodes in batteries made in the lab.
The results, Chen said, have been impressive.
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