A Better Way to Recycle Li-ion Batteries

WPI Professor Yan Wang has invented a way to recycle old Li-ion batteries and keep them out of landfills. Watch this video to see how Wang and his lab continue to show that recycled battery materials can outperform new materials, which will lead to a more sustainable battery industry.

Transcript

00:00:00 (gentle music) - My name is Yan Wang. I'm a professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Our recycling technology is a closed-loop process. So basically, after we receive spent lithium batteries, we first do some physical processing, like, we discharge the batteries, shred the batteries, then, we do the physical separation. So, after that, we got,

00:00:37 we call it black mass, mainly including the cathode materials, the ion materials. So, we dissolve loads of materials into the acid. From there, we remove the impurity, and then, do the coprecipitation reaction to form precursors and cathode materials. Then, we try to reuse those cathode materials into the new batteries. So, if we don't recycle them,

00:01:02 eventually, we don't have enough materials to make new batteries, so that's what we do. That's why we call it a closed-loop process. I want to improve the industry sustainability, because the goal for people to use loads of batteries or use loads of battery-powered device to lower the carbon dioxide emissions. Like, eventually, those batteries will be landfilled

00:01:26 or throw away, or throw into the garbage. I firmly believe eventually, electric car will be widely adopted, and will use lots of batteries, will use lots of materials. Our company, Ascend Elements, right now, they are working with many different car companies, and also, battery companies. They are looking for, like, lower cost materials,

00:01:51 better performance materials, and also, they want to improve their sustainability. There's lots of EVs, so eventually, those battery need to be recycled. So, compared to other recycling process, so our recycling technology offer better value, higher recycle efficiency, and lower carbon dioxide emissions.