The cathode is a masterpiece of molecular choreography. How much energy a battery holds and how long it lasts depends on its lattice of metal atoms — how well it can capture and release lithium ions. For decades, engineers have tinkered with designs that help the movement. And they got pretty good, if tram and phones of today is any barometer. But the cathode is also where things inside the battery often go wrong. This sterile structure, artfully arranged, begins to lose its integrity. The ions run loose or are obstructed. Just like that, your battery life will increase significantly.
But even if the structure is faulty, the atoms inside the cathode remain unchanged. This is why, in theory, it is possible to reuse them. “A metal atom is a metal atom,” said Alan Nelson, senior vice president of battery materials at Redwood Materials, a recycling company. “The element doesn’t know if it was in the battery or in the mine before.” This can be a good thing, because many of those atoms, including metals like cobalt and nickel, shortage and are only found in large quantities where their extraction entails great ecological and human costs. Today, Nelson’s company announced the results of a test at Argonne National Laboratory that compared recycled materials with virgin materials. These show that an atom is an atom; The performance of the two materials is almost exactly the same.
Redwood is one of a number of companies trying to turn old battery supplies into materials for new ones. It is low-profit, in the sense that it involves using up waste, and can relieve some of the pressure on new mines. But last year, the company, which initially sold recycled raw materials to other suppliers, took the unusual step of announcing plans to manufacture its own cathode material and then chose a location outside of Reno, Nevada, where they will spend $3.5 billion. 10 years on a new factory. The company says it plans to produce enough cathode materials (as well as copper). anode leaves) for 100 GWh worth of battery cells by 2025 – roughly the same as CATL, the dominant battery maker in China, produced last year.
It was something that kicked off the US battery industry. Despite a flurry of production announcements, supported in part by infrastructure spending and climate provisions in Inflation Reduction Act, most have been focused on the steps closest to car manufacturers and consumers, like assembling cells and battery packs. The United States has meanwhile struggle to build industries deeper in the supply chain — from mining to mining key minerals like lithium and cobalt for extensive processing turning them into cathode-like components. Most of that is done elsewhere. According to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, a battery supply chain research group, China now accounts for 78% of cathode materials in the worldand share that is ready to increase to 90 percent by 2030, despite efforts in the US to invest in the domestic battery supply chain.
Hans Eric Melin, founder of Circular Energy Storage, a consulting firm that tracks battery recycling, says one reason Chinese companies are still dominant is that they have a closed battery manufacturing process. . Making battery cells at home means being able to break down scrap materials and quickly get valuable metals back into production. The complex supply chain that refines the raw metals into that perfect crystalline cathode structure is also localized, centralizing expertise and reducing shipping costs.
Redwood is among companies trying to pull the US manufacturing loop a little tighter. The tests, carried out by independent researchers at Argonne National Laboratory, are a first step in a quality assessment process to reassure battery manufacturers about the quality of those materials. hand transmission. The process begins by taking the battery apart and breaking its components with heat and acid into metal sulfate compounds, including elements such as cobalt, manganese, and nickel.
