« aoe A DEAD BATTERY DILEMMA Pen ee Cee eect eer eee ees coarser cxlnaicl eis with components sured from aroun the woe transform tthlum an tht tailpipe emissions. But whe the btery comes othe en aise ts gre benef, it ends upin alanis cells can release problematic tox, cing heat meta. And eyeing the bttery cn be a za sins, vars materials Selentst Dana Thompson ofthe Unversity of Leleste. Cut to dep into a Tel ell, or Inthe weong plc, anit can short-cut, combust, and release tox une. That's just one of the many problems confronting researchers, including Tospson, who axe trying to tackle an emerging problem: howto recycle the mlions of electric vile (ey) baterls thar manufactures expet to produce oer the nex few decades. Current EV batterie are ely ot dese to be eye says Thompson, a esearch eliw at ‘That wast much of problem when EVs were re. But now the technology ean lecaes, an industry says pre at est 15 milion Vs wil be on the rood by SIGN UP FOR OUR DALY NEWSLETTER ‘Goverment re inching toward equring some lee of reeling 2018, china European Uion expected a fnaie its fit requiem this ea. the Unite Stats the eral government as yet to advance eyeing antes, bu several tates, incaingCaifornia~the nation's largest cat market—are exploring setting thei ow rules, Complying wont easy ateris ier widely in chemistry and construction, whith ‘makes tft to creat efcent reycing systems. Ate elle fen hl together with ugh lus that make tem cet to take apart. Tat has contributed to !meconori obstacle I's often chesper for bateryiakers to uy rsh rned tas eter eying methods would not nly prevent politin, researchers note, bt ao help ovement boos thelr economic and natlonal secu by Increasing upplesof ‘ey artery metals that ar contol by one or fe ations. “On the one site, [isposig of EV barteces sa waste management pober. Ad onthe othe side, es Cavin Harper a University of Bimini resect who sts EV policy ines. research inate. The US. Depattmen f Energy (DOE) has puned some S15 lion _msernnent laboratories, The United Kingdom as bce the Rei project, al Insiuion effort. asthe E industry ramps up, the ned for progres is becoming trgent, sys Lina Gaines, who worson battery recycling at DOE's Argonne National Laboratory. "The sooner we an get veytlng moving” she says, "the better EV BATTERIES ae constricted. bit ke nese dlls Typically a main pak olds beow, nse each cel thium atoms move thveugh an electrolyte between agape the metals inthe cathode, There ae tee min types nike cbt ana on phosphate, and nickl-manganese-oba fetch high pies. Lith and graphite are too cheap for recyting to be economia) But because of the sal quantities, the metasare ike needle in haystack ad find and recover, New life for spent cells ‘Seta reworking err te det vei (6) ater eng ala canbe eyed inaotoandboyord when tourna titres nila eed hens ey ay. vate pack pina cal . © texas 2a ‘Toestrat tote nels, eyes rely on wo techniqies, non a pyrometallngy an Fyrometallrgy. Me mere common sprometallursy, in wich reyes fist ‘mechanically she the el and then bm svg charted mas of plastic, etl on es At tha point, they can use several tad to entract the metals incl futher baring Pyromet is esetily eating thebatery a iit were anor” stalant fom amine, Gaines sas. Hydrometalluy In contrast, Ives dunking battery ore combine recjlert know the battery’ desgn or ompaston, a even whether ts completely «an extract materia not ssl obtained thrxgh bring, bat ican nso chemicals that pose health risks. And eeverng the desired elements from the chemical soup ean bec, althogh researchers are experinenting with compas tit promise to dissolve certain battery metals but eave others in solid for making then easier to recoter-Far example, Thompson has dented one cade, a mixture af acs and Both processes proce extensive wate an emit greenhouse gases, sts hve fo ‘And the business model can be shay: Most operations depend on selling recovered «cobalt to ty in business, but bateryakes are yng shi away trom that teltvely The circles of reveling —" Pa THEIDEAL iret eying, which wold sep the athe mise intact. Thats rocesing, Gaines notes although mnafocturers gh sil have to revitalize cates byyading smal! amounts of itium). "So f youre thinking crular econo ect recyting| isa salercice than pyoret or hydromet In direct reocting, worker would rst vat away the electrolyte and she batery cls The, they would remove binders with hen or solvents, nd sea lation technique to separate anode and cathode mates this pont he cathode material resembles baby pode, Sofar tec reting experiments ave only focused on single elisa led ust tensor gras oeathade powders. Bu even atthe US National Renewable Energy Laboratory have uit economic mals showing the tetiqiecoul, i scaled "upiner the ight onions, be viable inthe fare. sort outa ost of issues, Ones making sure manufacturers le he bsteris, 50 recyclers know what Kind of cl they ar dealing with-and whether te eathoe metals have any vale. Given the rapidly changing btery market Gaines notes cathodes manufactured today might not beable to Sind fare baer Rees wold be covering laos No oe wil wat he pdt. Another challenge i fen cracking open EV batteries. Nissan's rectangular Leaf Tetery mle ca take 2 hours to disse, Tesinscellsare nie tony for he clinical shape, but also forthe alos indestructible polyurethane cent tt holds tem togeter les are used tool the anes, cathodes another components in pice, One slvent ‘nat recylers wet sob cthode beri so exe that the Europes Uon has Introduced resections on its se andthe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency determined last ear that it poses an "unreasonable isk to workers, In tems of economics, youve got to dstssemble. andy want tosassembe then you've got to get rid of glue sys Andree ABU chemist atthe Univesity of Lekesterant Thompson’ adviser. TO EASE THE PROCESS, Thomson another reseuches ae urging EV: ae btermakers to star deslging tel products with recyeling in in. The deal batery, Abt sys, would be ike Christ rack, UK holiday gt ha pops ‘pen en the ecpent pulls at ech end revealing cat ra message. Asan example, 1D, Chinese Eker spk does ay with the modal component instead storing at ces direct ise. The ois can be removed easly by hand without fighing with wires and ges, ‘The Blade ater emerged after Cina in 2018 began to make EV manufacturers response for ensuring bateles ae rej. The county now reels more Ian Iyrometallrgcal methods Nations moving to adopt snr polices face some thomy questions. One, Thon responsility because Itoh on EV] ori the manatee’ responsibility bess they made ian theyre sling {nthe European Union, one answer could come ter tis ear, when oils relese the inerpectd o weigh in wi ecommenatons that coud havea biginluece one ay US pale tlstances or acos borders cn discourage eying. As ares, placingrecjling ‘centers inthe it paces coud have amas pac Harper say. But theres gong research together: production o cell thats absoltey impossible to pull apr, he says. "Ts nt