Humanity already possesses the fundamental scientific, technical, and industrial know-how to solve the carbon and climate problem for the next half-century. A portfolio of technologies now exists to meet the world's energy needs over the next 50 years and limit atmospheric CO2 to a trajectory that avoids a doubling of the preindustrial concentration. Every element in this portfolio has passed beyond the laboratory bench and demonstration project; many are already implemented somewhere at full industrial scale. Although no element is a credible candidate for doing the entire job (or even half the job) by itself, the portfolio as a whole is large enough that not every element has to be used.

“Stabilization wedges: Solving the climate problem for the next 50 years with current technologies” from science magazine (2004)

Pyrometallurgical options for recycling spent lithium-ion batteries: A comprehensive review

Recent progress of surface coating on cathode materials for high-performance lithium-ion batteries

In the search for active Lithium-ion battery materials with ever-increasing energy density, the limits of conventional auxiliary materials, such as binders and conducting additives are being tested. Binders adhere to active substances and current collectors, yielding an interconnected electrode structure that ensures mechanical integrity during the (de-)lithiation process. Even though the battery binder only accounts for a fraction of battery weight and cost, it is a bottleneck technology in the deployment of high energy density active materials that experience significant volume variation and side-reactions. This review paper discusses research on alternative binders derived from conducting polymers (CPs). The use of CPs in binders enables mechanically flexible electronic contacts with the active material with the goal of accommodating larger volume changes within the electrode. Following a summary of the reasoning behind the use of CP-based binders, their rational design is reviewed, including novel composite syntheses and chemical modifications. A new class of multifunctional CP-based binders exhibits promising properties such as high electronic conductivity, the ability for aqueous processing, and efficient binding that tackle the limiting features of traditional binders. The practical application of these binders in Li-ion batteries and beyond is summarized, yielding an outline of current achievements, and a discussion of remaining knowledge gaps and possible future development of such binders.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1149/1945-7111/ab856b/pdf

Review—Conducting Polymer-Based Binders for Lithium-Ion Batteries and Beyond

The disposal of hazardous waste of any form has become a great concern for the industrial sector due to increased environmental awareness. The increase in usage of hydroprocessing catalysts by petrochemical industries and lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) in portable electronics and electric vehicles will soon generate a large amount of scrap and create significant environmental problems. Like general electronic wastes, spent catalysts and LIBs are currently discarded in municipal solid waste and disposed of in landfills in the absence of policy and feasible technology to drive alternatives. Such inactive catalyst materials and spent LIBs not only contain not only hazardous heavy metals but also toxic and carcinogenic chemicals. Besides polluting the environment, these systems (spent catalysts and LIBs) contain valuable metals such as Ni, Mo, Co, Li, Mn, Rh, Pt, and Pd. Therefore, the extraction and recovery of these valuable metals has significant importance. In this Review, we have summarized the strategies used to recover valuable (expensive) as well as cheap metals from secondary resources-especially spent catalysts and LIBs. The first section contains the background and sources of LIBs and catalyst scraps with their current recycling status, followed by a brief explanation of metal recovery methods such as pyrometallurgy, hydrometallurgy, and biometallurgy. The recent advances achieved in these methods are critically summarized. Thus, the Review provides a guide for the selection of adequate methods for metal recovery and future opportunities for the repurposing of recovered materials.

/pdf/recycle-recover-and-repurpose-strategy-of-spent-li-ion-22ggr5h40r.pdf

Recycle, Recover and Repurpose Strategy of Spent Li-ion Batteries and Catalysts: Current Status and Future Opportunities

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2053-1591/aae167/pdf

NCA cathode material: synthesis methods and performance enhancement efforts

Nickel-rich cathode material, NCA (85:14:1), is successfully synthesized using two different, simple and economical batch methods, i.e., hydroxide co-precipitation (NCA-CP) and the hydroxides solid state reaction method (NCA-SS), followed by heat treatments. Based on the FTIR spectra, all precursor samples exhibit two functional groups of hydroxide and carbonate. The XRD patterns of NCA-CP and NCA-SS show a hexagonal layered structure (space group: R_3m), with no impurities detected. Based on the SEM images, the micro-sized particles exhibit a sphere-like shape with aggregates. The electrochemical performances of the samples were tested in a 18650-type full-cell battery using artificial graphite as the counter anode at the voltage range of 2.7–4.25 V. All samples have similar characteristics and electrochemical performances that are comparable to the commercial NCA battery, despite going through different synthesis routes. In conclusion, the overall results are considered good and have the potential to be adapted for commercialization.

Synthesis of LiNi0.85Co0.14Al0.01O2 Cathode Material and its Performance in an NCA/Graphite Full-Battery

An approach for a fast recycling process for Lithium Nickel Cobalt Aluminum Oxide (NCA) cathode scrap material without the presence of a reducing agent was proposed. The combination of metal leaching using strong acids (HCl, H2SO4, HNO3) and mixed metal hydroxide co-precipitation followed by heat treatment was investigated to resynthesize NCA. The most efficient leaching with a high solid loading rate (100 g/L) was obtained using HCl, resulting in Ni, Co, and Al leaching efficiencies of 99.8%, 95.6%, and 99.5%, respectively. The recycled NCA (RNCA) was successfully synthesized and in good agreement with JCPDS Card #87-1562. The highly crystalline RNCA presents the highest specific discharge capacity of a full cell (RNCA vs. Graphite) of 124.2 mAh/g with capacity retention of 96% after 40 cycles. This result is comparable with commercial NCA. Overall, this approach is faster than that in the previous study, resulting in more efficient and facile treatment of the recycling process for NCA waste and providing 35 times faster processing.

A Fast Metals Recovery Method for the Synthesis of Lithium Nickel Cobalt Aluminum Oxide Material from Cathode Waste

Synthesis of LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2 cathode material via flame-assisted spray pyrolysis method

Abundantly available SiO2 (silica) has great potential as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries because it is inexpensive and flexible. However, silicon oxide-based anode material preparation usually requires many complex steps. In this article, we report a facile method for preparing a SiO2/C composite derived from coal combustion fly ash as an anode material for Li-ion batteries. SiO2 was obtained by caustic extraction and HCl precipitation. Then, the SiO2/C composite was successfully obtained by mechanical milling followed by heat treatment. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Electrochemical properties were tested using an 18650 cylindrical cell utilizing LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2 (NCA) as the counter electrode. Based on the obtained results, the physiochemical characteristics and electrochemical performance, it was determined that SiO2/C composites were greatly affected by the temperature of heat treatment. The best result was obtained with the SiO2 content of 10% w/w, heating temperature of 500 °C, initial specific discharge capacity of 586 mAh g−1 at 0.1 C (1 C = 378 mAh g−1), and reversible capacity of 87% after 20 cycles. These results confirmed that the obtained materials had good initial discharge capacity, cyclability, high performance, and exhibited great potential as an anode material for LIBs.

Cornelius Satria Yudha

Papers

NCA cathode material: synthesis methods and performance enhancement efforts

Synthesis of LiNi0.85Co0.14Al0.01O2 Cathode Material and its Performance in an NCA/Graphite Full-Battery

A Fast Metals Recovery Method for the Synthesis of Lithium Nickel Cobalt Aluminum Oxide Material from Cathode Waste

Synthesis of LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2 cathode material via flame-assisted spray pyrolysis method

SiO2/C Composite as a High Capacity Anode Material of LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2 Battery Derived from Coal Combustion Fly Ash