Sbir phase II: electrochemical separation device for CO-NI recovery from LI-ION batteries

This Cooperative Agreement from the National Science Foundation's Engineering program provides $976,200 to Nth Cycle Inc. to develop an electrochemical separation device for recycling cobalt and nickel from lithium-ion batteries. The two-year award running from February 2022 to January 2024 aims to validate Nth Cycle's novel electro-extraction nanotechnology for battery recycling and cobalt mining. Specifically, the company will test a flow-through water electrolysis process using high local hydroxide concentrations to precipitate transition metals as metal hydroxides. This is intended to enable tuning conditions to selectively precipitate individual metals like nickel, manganese and cobalt in battery stoichiometries. If successful, the project could deliver a high-throughput recycling system and new cathode precursor material, reducing conventional energy-intensive mining and refining for critical battery materials.

Abstract

The broader impact/commercial potential of this small business innovation research (SBIR) phase II project includes providing a high-throughput system for recycling critical metals like cobalt to reduce the conventional energy-intensive mining and refining processes used to produce materials for manufacturing today. Most importantly, this project will help secure a supply of critical materials, reducing the united states? Reliance on foreign supply chains and guaranteeing a secondary source of battery materials. A new, domestic supply will also reduce the social and human health impacts associated with artisanal mining, and significantly reduce the environmental impact of batteries and electric vehicles. This SBIR phase II project proposes to (1) validate novel electro-extraction nanotechnology based separations technology in the battery recycling and cobalt mining space, and (2) validate a new, value-added product (a battery cathode precursor material) for this rapidly growing market, rendering the conventional refining stages unnecessary. The proposed electroextraction process utilizes flow-through water electrolysis to produce high local concentrations of hydroxide to precipitate transition metals as metal hydroxides. This understanding will allow tuning the device operating conditions for metal or mixed-metal specific precipitation, for example, the precipitation of NI-MN-CO hydroxides at battery stoichiometries or highly selective precipitation of individual metals. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.