Microwave irradiation and ion exchange lower cost of battery upcycling

This article was originally posted on Chemical Engineering Online.

Summary

Based on the excerpt: Sandia National Laboratories has developed a battery upcycling process that uses microwave irradiation combined with ion-exchange chemistry to recover and restore lithium‑ion cathode materials. The method aims to deliver the low energy use and short processing times of direct recycling while preserving the broad reusability typically associated with pyrometallurgy—potentially enabling both direct re-use of refurbished cathode particles and conversion into versatile precursors, at lower cost.

What would it take to scale this microwave/ion‑exchange approach across the recycling industry—are the main hurdles technical (mixed chemistries, throughput), economic (CAPEX, operating costs), or regulatory (standards, permitting)?

Approaches for recycling cathode active materials from used lithium-ion batteries generally face a tradeoff wherein recovering materials with the widest range of possibilities for re-use, such as pyrometallurgical methods, generally require high energy and long process times, while direct-recycling approaches may reduce time and energy, but also restrict the options for reuse. Now, a battery upcycling process developed by scientists at Sandia National Laboratories avoids this tradeoff.

The post Microwave irradiation and ion exchange lower cost of battery upcycling appeared first on Chemical Engineering.

Microwave irradiation and ion exchange lower cost of battery upcycling

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