Dry -processed cathodes can now be recycled without poisonous solvents

Dry -processed electrodes that do not require expensive and sometimes toxic solvents and instead use polytetrafluorethylene as a binder can be more environmentally friendly and cheaper.

A research team from the Meet Battery Research Center and the Institute of Business Chemistry at the University of Münster now has a method for recycling such dry-processed categories-a important step towards circular batteries.

Innovative production processes such as the processing of dry electrodes are a crucial milestone for more environmentally friendly and inexpensive battery cell production. This approach completely avoids using expensive and partially toxic organic solvents, which are achieved by selecting the corresponding binder: the high -temperature plastic polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE).

In order to strengthen the circular economy of batteries with such processes, it is important to integrate recycling options from the start. A team from the Meet Battery Research Center and the Institute of Business Chemistry at the University of Münster have therefore developed a method of scrap recycling of dry processed lithium-ion batteries.

The results were published in the journal Advanced energy materials.

“Recycling can be successfully implemented and enlarged mechanically with mills dry,” says Maike Michelle Gnutzmann, Ph.D. Student at the Meet Battery Research Center and International Graduate School Baccara.

In the case of dry -processed cathodes, the mills separate the cathode network from the power collector and granulate it. As a result, all components such as active material, PTFE binder and conductive carbon black are available in their original form.

“Since the materials involved are not broken down by the recycling process, they can be reused directly,” says Maike Michelle Gnutzmann.

In addition, the Institute of Business Chemistry evaluated the profitability of the procedure by a life cycle assessment (LCCA). The results show that the recycling process for industrial applications is attractive, not only for sustainability considerations, but also for cost efficiency.