Research for battery recycling

Research for battery recycling

Lawn mowers, electric cars, e-bikes or photovoltaic batteries – many technical devices and means of transport are now equipped with a battery. "These are huge amounts of batteries and ultimately resources that will be recycled in the foreseeable future. However, there is not yet sufficient recycling capacity for this," explains civil engineer Merle Zorn. At the Department of Civil Engineering at Münster University of Applied Sciences, she is researching how batteries can be recycled more efficiently. Zorn's research is embedded in the collaborative project DemoSens - digitalization of automated dismantling and sensor-supported mechanical processing of lithium-ion batteries for high-quality recycling. Project partners are institutes at RWTH Aachen University. The project is led by Sabine Flamme from the Institute for Infrastructure – Water – Resources – Environment at the Münster University of Applied Sciences.

Zorn already wrote her master's thesis in the research project on the dismantling of battery packs from e-mobility. "The batteries are currently still being dismantled manually. With the large quantities of so-called end-of-life batteries that are expected to be produced in the future, this will no longer be affordable," says the research assistant. Therefore, in the project she developed a labeling system based on a QR code, which, among other things, contains information for automated dismantling. Another sticking point in recycling: Lithium-ion batteries contain different cathode materials - an essential component for the function of a battery - such as nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) or lithium iron phosphate (LFP). “Knowing this subcategory is crucial because, for high efficiency, the recycling process must be precisely tailored to the respective cathode material.” However, information about this is not yet noted on the batteries. “We have therefore integrated information about all raw materials used into the labeling concept.” A regulation that requires manufacturers to provide this type of information label is currently being worked on by the EU Commission. Zorn's concept provides suggestions for expanding this label with information for automated dismantling.

The FH alumna is currently researching how to improve the output of lithium-ion battery recycling plants and thus the quality of the materials recovered. “We at the Münster University of Applied Sciences focus on early, pure recovery of copper and aluminum, as there is otherwise little focus on this in ongoing research in battery recycling.” The two metals are found in different places in the electric vehicle battery. For example, the cathode material is applied to aluminum foil and the anode material is applied to copper foil. The housing of the batteries and cells is often made of aluminum. Copper conductor rails connect the cells and conduct electricity from the battery to the car engine. In the recyclate, copper and aluminum have so far mostly been present as a mixture. This means that aluminum is usually lost in the recycling process.