A new breakthrough in battery recycling has emerged from a team of researchers in China that has developed an eco-friendly way to recover nearly all valuable materials from depleted lithium ion batteries. The innovative process uses glycine, an amino acid, to extract 99.99% of lithium and significant percentages of nickel, cobalt, and manganese from old batteries. Unlike traditional methods, this approach avoids harsh chemicals and minimizes environmental harm, generating effluents suitable for use as fertilizer.
The groundbreaking method, was developed by researchers from Central South University, Guizhou Normal University, and the National Engineering Research Center of Advanced Energy Storage Materials. It employs a unique ‘battery effect’ mechanism which achieves remarkable recovery rates: 99.99% of lithium, 96.8% of nickel, 92.35% of cobalt, and 90.59% of manganese, all within just 15 minutes.published in the Journal of the German Chemical Society on February 18, 2025.
What sets this method apart from other battery recycling methods is its use of a neutral solution environment which eliminates the need to use the harsh chemicals typically associated with battery recycling. Dr. Xing Ou, a professor at Central South University, emphasizes that the process produces minimal harmful gases while the glycine effluent can be repurposed as fertilizer. Other research has shown that recycling lithium-ion batteries is substantially more environmentally friendly than mining new materials.
Source: Clean Technica, March 18, 2025. https://cleantechnica.com/…/new-battery-recycling…/
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