Lithium ion batteries are used all over the world. Although lithium ion batteries have faced competition from sodium batteries and magnesium batteries in the past few years, lithium ion batteries have become an indispensable energy source due to their high density and capacity. However, the reserves of lithium metal are insufficient and the reserves are relatively concentrated. Almost 85% of the lithium metal is located in the lithium triangle at the junction of Argentina, Bolivia and Chile. Moreover, as the adoption rate of electric vehicles continues to increase, the demand for lithium metal seems to increase substantially in the next few decades. Each car requires about 7000 cell phone batteries, so reusing different components of cell phone batteries has become an extremely important issue.
(Source: University of Cordoba)
According to foreign media reports, a research project of the University of Cordoba in Spain and San Luis University in Argentina can use old mobile phones and devices with low recycling rates to manufacture new lithium batteries, because such batteries if Improper handling will eventually result in a lot of e-waste every year.
The project found a way to recycle graphite in such devices. This material is located at the negative electrode of the battery. Its main function is to store and conduct lithium. Professor Ãlvaro Caballero, one of the heads of the study, said that the researchers were able to remove impurities from the used graphite, reorganize its structure, and reactivate it for new use. Interestingly, this material accounts for a quarter of the total weight of the lithium battery, so when it is recycled, it is equivalent to 25% of the entire energy storage system. Especially graphite comes from crude oil, so it makes more sense.
Another point that reflects the importance of this research is that the positive electrode of this new type of recyclable battery can no longer use cobalt because cobalt is widely used in the mobile device industry. Researcher Fernando Luna, one of the lead authors of the study, said: "Cobalt is a toxic element that is more expensive than other elements such as manganese and nickel used in the study. More importantly, as with the mining of coltan, Cobalt is also concentrated in mines in conflict areas. "
According to the conclusion of this research, under certain circumstances, the recovered graphite is better than commercial graphite. Some tests conducted also showed that, in the best case, the capacity of such batteries remained stable after 100 charging cycles (equivalent to one year of use).
Although the results of the study are promising, and the tests were conducted on a complete cell of a real battery, the study was small and conducted in the laboratory. Therefore, there is still a long way to go before this manual recycling process becomes a standardized process.
Researcher Ãlvaro Caballero said: "At present, more than 90% of the lead battery components in traditional cars are recycled, so if we hope to achieve sustainable development and popularize electric vehicles, large-scale recycling of lithium batteries will become inevitable." (Yu Qiuyun )
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