SBIR Phase I: Electrochemical Separation Device for Co-Ni Recovery from Li-ion Batteries

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will address a critical need for a new source of strategic materials for the clean energy and electronics markets. The U.S. is a major consumer of cobalt, a critical component in rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. Over the next five years, the rapid increase in electric vehicles on the road will cause a drastic shift in the market, becoming the largest and fastest growing end-use of this critical material. This projected increase in demand, combined with the unstable global supply and difficulties with scaling mining productions, puts our cobalt supply at high risk. Discarded lithium ion batteries could be a viable secondary source of cobalt if viable recycling technologies were available. Achieving efficient, low-cost recycling of Li-ion batteries will facilitate a secure source of cobalt for our U.S.-based manufacturers with large societal impact, offering a high net-benefit concerning air emissions and climate protection, and incentives for collecting high priority waste. The commercial impact of this technology will enable further innovation for clean energy technologies where humans ability to literally wield power where and when they want it that will not be limited by the availability of critical metals. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will provide a recycling technology for the li-ion battery market, helping to solve the supply crisis for cobalt in the electronics and clean energy sector. Currently, there are no viable alternatives for cobalt separation and capture, except for large, expensive, and energy consumptive hydrometallurgical and pyrometallurgical processes. While these techniques work well, they require high capital and material transportation costs. The technique proposed here provides a new and efficient method for separating and reclaiming cobalt oxide for direct reuse in advanced manufacturing, designed with a small footprint so that it can be added onto existing recycling and manufacturing processes to capture these metals, without large upfront capital cost. The research objectives of this SBIR project will demonstrate feasibility of recovering cobalt from Li-ion battery waste using a plug-and-play, high-throughput electrochemical deposition method. To achieve this, we will utilize high surface area, flexible carbon material to enhance the selectivity and efficiency of our process. The anticipated technical results include a 5-10x reduction in cost and 1-4x reduction in CO2 emissions compared to incumbent recycling technologies, ultimately redefining our current wastes as resources, providing a secure source of cobalt to the U.S. market. 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.