how to better recycle all those batteries? this us professor has some ideas - li ion battery cell
In a higher and higher
In this tech world, where smartphones are as ubiquitous as in Mongolia and Manhattan, the number of electric cars on the road is expected to surge, scientists and engineers are trying to solve a big problem: how to recycle the batteries that make all these things work.
The US Department of Energy recently launched its first lithium-
A professor at the Ion recycling center, called the ReCell center, the University of California, San Diego, will add his expertise to the campaign to help the United States develop a competitive recycling industry, and reduce the country's dependence on foreign sources of battery materials"The short-
The long-term goal is to reduce the cost of lithium
30% of the ion batteries, "said Zheng Chen, assistant professor and nano engineer at sustainable power and energy center at Jacob Institute of Engineering.
"This means that the cost of buying mobile phones, laptops and electric cars for everyone will be reduced.
$ 15mil (RM61. 12mil)
With three years of funding, the project will attract collaborators from universities and national laboratories to develop new methods to separate and recycle materials from used batteries of electric vehicles or electric vehicles.
The researchers will then expand the most promising technology at the ReCell center at the Argonne National Laboratory, where participants can use research and development tools that are not available in their own laboratories.
Demand for faster charging and longer life capacity, lithium-
There are ion batteries in smartphones, laptops and other electronic devices.
But when consumers buy new products, the batteries of these old devices tend to be stacked or hidden in drawers and closets. Lithium-
Ion batteries are also available in most plugs
But in hybrid and electric vehicles, the batteries in the vehicle are much larger, making it harder to recycle them.
In addition, the battery cathode in electric vehicles, smartphones and laptops requires cobalt.
However, 54% of the world's cobalt supply was discovered in Congo, a country with a history of political instability.
Human rights organizations recorded the employment of child labor in Congo to mine the metal.
There is also a limited supply of lithium in the world.
Currently, lithium
Ion batteries are recovered at a rate of less than 5%.
In the work of the University of California, San Diego, Chen developed a method for recycling waste cathode from waste lithium
Ion battery and restore it to the same state as the new battery.
The next step is to simplify the process and make it commercially viable.
Chen said that he and his team will work mainly at the University of California, San Diego, but will go to the resell Center to discuss their projects and work with others. "In the long-
This project can greatly reduce our dependence on expensive metals, such as lithium and cobalt that we have to import from other countries. Chen said in an email.
"By reducing the demand for natural resources, we also save the environment.
"Lithium recycling materials-
Ion batteries can be used in new batteries, which will reduce production costs by 10% to 30%, which will help reduce the cost of electric vehicle batteries to $80 (RM326)per kilowatt-
Hours-goals set by the Department of Energy.
The ReCell center can help "solve the challenges that prevent the United States from obtaining economic, environmental and security benefits from the large commercial United States"based lithium-
"The ion recycling market," said Jeff swangenberg, director of the resell center, in a statement.
In addition to the collaborators in the battery supply chain, the ReCell center will also gather researchers and scientists from the Renewable Energy Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Argonne.
The participating universities include Worcester Institute of Technology, Michigan Institute of Technology and the University of California, San Diego.
In another project, the Department of Energy also launched lithium-
Ion battery recycling award, $5. 5mil (RM22. 41mil)
Designed to inspire competition between innovators and enterprise development processes that, when scaled up, have the potential to make a 90% profit from all lithium discarded or consumed --
Ion batteries in the United States.
-San Diego Alliance-