Solvent-Free direct recycling of NCA cathode active material from End-of-life Li-ion batteries

The rapid expansion of the global lithium-ion battery market presents both economic and environmental challenges, leading to an increased demand for battery precursors materials. Indeed, Li-ion batteries (LIBs) dominate the portable and e-mobility applications with their demand anticipated to increase substantially in the coming years. However, the scarcity of critical raw materials in batteries highlights the challenge of meeting material demands. Consequently, recycling of spent batteries holds significant importance and emerges as a vital strategy to recover and reintegrate the recovered materials into the battery supply chain.

Several approaches are used for the recycling of spent LIBs that can be classified into pyrometallurgical, hydrometallurgical, and direct recycling. The concept of direct recycling has emerged as an innovative and a more sustainable approach because it offers several advantages compared to other traditional recycling processes that require high energy consumption and chemicals utilization. In this talk, an innovative, efficient, and green method for the direct recycling by heat treatment of the NCA cathode active material will be presented. Indeed, the developed process aims to recondition the cathode active materials thereby restoring their energy density and cycle life.