Coffee up: Scientists tackle EV battery recycling with less waste

Source: Bridie Schmidt | · THE DRIVEN · | October 4, 2022

Source: PROFESSOR GISELE AZIMI STANDS NEXT TO JIAKAI (KEVIN) ZHANG, WHO HOLDS A SOLUTION CONTAINING METAL NITRATES AND TRIBUTYL PHOSPHATE COMPLEXES. IMAGE: SAFA JINJE

A process used to extract caffeine from coffee beans could help to recycle EV batteries using less chemicals and leaving less secondary waste, new research says.

Whilst the growing electric vehicle market promises to significantly reduce transport-related carbon emissions, there is much concern about what happens to their batteries once they are no longer useful for high demand purposes.

The life expectancy of electric vehicle batteries can be as long as 10 to 20 years. After that, many degraded EV batteries can in fact be put to use in second life applications, but there comes a time when even low demand energy storage is too much for older cells.

Researchers from the University of Toronto say they have found a way to extract the precious metals used in EV batteries using a process called “supercritical fluid extraction.”

It differs from traditional processes such as pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy which are both energy intensive. Pyrometallurgy (“pyro” meaning fire”) produces greenhouse gas emissions, and hydrometallurgy (hydro meaning “water”) uses acids and bases, creating wastewater that must then be processed.

A crucial resource for recovery

“Getting these metals from raw ore takes a lot of energy,” says Jiakai (Kevin) Zhang, a PhD candidate in chemical engineering and applied chemistry who is the lead author on a new paper recently published in Resources, Conservation and Recycling.

“We are about to reach a point where many lithium-ion batteries are reaching their end of life,” says lead researcher Gisele Azimi, a professor in the departments of materials science and engineering and chemical engineering and applied chemistry.