Recycled lithium-ion batteries may last longer than new ones

As electric cars gradually enter thousands of households, many people think that when the electric cars running on the road are scrapped, we will be surrounded by used lithium-ion batteries. But recent research shows that scrapped lithium-ion batteries can be effectively recycled, and the recycled batteries are even better than new batteries, which has overturned our previous cognition.

There are many types of lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles today. In fact, the batteries used in electric vehicles are completely different from those used in mobile phones and laptops, but these batteries have a limited lifespan. Electric vehicle batteries may need to be used for more than ten years before they can no longer be used, so they need to be recycled in time after being scrapped. One voice against electric vehicles is that electric vehicles will bring a nightmare to the environment compared to fuel vehicles. In a few years, there will be millions of old car batteries that can no longer be used, but critics have never thought that recycling is a viable solution. After all, humans have been deeply involved in recycling materials for decades.

It is true that few things are worth recycling. We are used to throwing waste into the trash and disposing of it directly. But when it comes to lithium-ion batteries, recycling is a profitable business, but can the recycled batteries still be used? According to Jeffrey B Straubel, CEO of Redwood Materials and co-founder and former chief technology officer of Tesla, the recycled materials of lithium-ion batteries tend to become purer with each additional cycle of manufacturing and refining. Not only does the recycling process not affect the performance of the battery, but it can also improve the quality, resulting in better batteries. This is a surprising result, but recent scientific research has confirmed that recycled batteries not only perform as well as new batteries, but also last longer and charge faster.

This is a completely new recycling technology that keeps most of the cathode intact while scrapping all other materials in the battery. Next, fresh materials such as nickel and cobalt are added to the cathode to ensure that the chemical composition ratio is just right. The result is an effectively renewed cathode powder, composed of tiny crystalline particles that can be stuck to metal strips and put into "new" batteries.

The researchers found that the recycled powder particles had a more porous structure and therefore had more exposed surface area than cathodes made from scratch. In other words, recycled batteries can charge faster than batteries using newly mined materials. Although the process is still in the research stage, Ascend Elements, a company specializing in lithium-ion battery recycling, is scaling up production. The ultimate goal is to extend the process to new batteries so that all cathodes have a porous structure that allows for improved performance. In the near future, recycled lithium-ion batteries will not only be commonplace, but also popular. Stay tuned for more news on battery recycling.