In Germany, battery industry players and university researchers are partnering in a joint project to improve the ecological footprint of lithium-ion batteries. The project, called SWELL, is led by battery electrolyte company Elyte Innovations, and is joined by a team from the Technical University of Dresden and automotive lubricant company Fuchs Smierstoffe.
The SWELL joint project is dedicated to the recovery of non-metallic components of lithium-ion batteries, such as lithium salts, solvents and electrolyte additives. The name of the SWELL project means: “Material Recycling of Electrolyte Conducting Salts and Solvents”. The project partners note that this is a different approach and approach from most research projects that aim to improve the recycling of battery metals. The project is funded by the German government.
“Electrolytes are largely lost in previous processes in the form of thermal recycling or recycling,” explains team member Kai Schwedtmann, from the Chair of Inorganic Molecular Chemistry at Technische Universität Dresden. “However, electrolyte components have significant material value and contain critical and environmentally relevant resources such as lithium, fluorine and phosphorus. Their recovery and efficient reprocessing with the aim of reusing – them directly into LIBs (lithium ion batteries) is therefore of great interest and can lead to a significant increase in the sustainability of battery cell production.”
To increase material recovery rates during recycling, the project team is working on efficient methods of separating liquid and solid electrolyte components. By developing and evaluating this process, the consortium aims to increase the recovery of critical raw materials, which can then be fed back into battery material cycles without the need for mining.
The director of the project at the Technical University of Dresden, Professor Jan Weigand, confirms: “By developing and evaluating this method, we aim to improve access to battery materials in Europe and reduce the environmental footprint of LIBs. We can achieve these goals by providing secondary components from cost-effective processes in the future, thereby reducing dependencies along the battery value chain on non-European suppliers.”
idw-online.de, tu-dresden.de
