Recycling of Li ion batteries and battery materials

Since 2012, the Department of Physical Chemistry at the Brandenburg University of Technology has been working on manifold aspects of recycling lithium-ion batteries and the recovery and reuse of the materials and compounds they contain.

Our research focuses on three main areas. The first includes fundamental investigations, such as the mechanisms of degradation of battery materials during deep discharge of the cells, when the cells are opened and stored in air, but also during treatment under various conditions to simulate industrial process steps.

The second focus is to work with industrial partners to optimise existing recycling routes or to develop new process steps. These activities include

·       Production of high quality black mass through mechanical-thermal process steps

·       Processing of production waste

·       Upgrading of low quality black mass

·       Recovery of anode graphite

·       Recovery of lithium from LFP black mass

·       Degradation of black metal

·       Hydrometallurgical processes for separation and recovery of metal compounds using various technologies

·       Functional recycling: recovery of cathode material from end-of-life lithium-ion batteries and its re-integration to the production of new cathode sheets

·       Monitoring and tracking of production processes: material balances, losses and discharges, input of impurities, handling of low-grade fractions.

 The third focus is methodological work on chemical and material analysis. We are specialised in elemental analysis, trace element analysis, precision analysis, spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. These methods provide the quantitative basis essential for the development of chemical processes, the representation of material flows and material balances, the identification of sources of contamination or loss, and the analysis of starting, intermediate and end products. We also carry out post-mortem analyses and damage investigations. We are currently developing analytical routines for battery materials to enable rapid, efficient and reliable analysis under industrial conditions. We have particular expertise in this area, having developed analytical routines for the analysis of acidic etching baths used in all German solar factories.