Currently only ~ 1% of Lithium-ion batteries are recycled worldwide due to the fact that most cells are widely dispersed and there is little value in materials recovered from these cells using conventional recycling methods. To protect the environment and to stabilize battery prices the recycling rate for Li-ion cells must increase dramatically, particularly as the use of new large cell applications grows such as hybrid electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. This SBIR project will demonstrate the feasibility of a novel approach to recovering high value materials from end-of-life Li-ion cells for reuse in new cells. Success of the approach will greatly enhance the value proposition for recycling Li-ion cells, which should have a direct impact on the cost of Li-ion battery systems. The low cost materials recovered and regenerated from recycled Li-ion cells have the potential to significantly reduce the cost of Li-ion systems overall, benefiting the consumer and enabling more rapid acceptance of environmentally friendly applications like EVs.
