Chinese researchers develop mechanochemical recycling method that recovers 95% of lithium from spent batteries using CO2 at ambient conditions, while upcycling waste into hydrogen catalysts.
The global lithium-ion battery market has exploded to 7.8 billion units annually, creating an unprecedented environmental challenge as most developing nations lack proper recycling infrastructure. Now, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Beijing Institute of Technology have unveiled a breakthrough recycling method that operates at room temperature using carbon dioxide as the primary reagent.
The Three-in-One Recycling Revolution
The new process, detailed in Nature Communications, represents a fundamental shift from traditional battery recycling methods. Instead of relying on energy-intensive furnaces or corrosive acids, the team developed a mechanochemical approach that uses high-energy ball milling to restructure the battery's atomic composition.
The key innovation lies in how mechanical force triggers cationic disordering within the battery cathode. This process causes lithium atoms to migrate toward the surface while transition metals like nickel and cobalt concentrate in the core. The resulting micro-segregation makes lithium extraction remarkably efficient - the surface becomes highly reactive and ready for selective recovery.
CO2 as the Green Leaching Agent
Rather than using harsh chemicals, the researchers introduced a pressurized mixture of water and carbon dioxide. The CO2 acts as the leaching reagent, reacting with the lithium-rich surface to form lithium bicarbonate. This approach achieves over 95% lithium recovery efficiency while simultaneously sequestering CO2 that would otherwise contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.
The process operates entirely at ambient temperature and pressure, eliminating the toxic liquid waste and massive energy consumption associated with conventional pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy methods. Traditional recycling often requires temperatures exceeding 1,000°C and generates significant carbon emissions.
From Waste to Green Energy Catalyst
Perhaps most impressively, the process transforms what would typically be discarded as secondary waste into valuable materials. The leftover metal scraps are upcycled into high-performance Oxygen Evolution Reaction (OER) catalysts for green hydrogen production.
In laboratory testing, these recycled catalysts demonstrated exceptional performance with a low overpotential of 322 mV and maintained stability for over 200 hours of continuous operation. This creates a closed-loop system where battery waste directly contributes to renewable energy infrastructure.
Industrial Scalability and Future Impact
The researchers emphasize that this approach is particularly effective for high-nickel cathode systems, which dominate the current electric vehicle and consumer electronics markets. The ambient operating conditions and high recovery rates suggest strong potential for industrial-scale implementation.
With billions of lithium-ion batteries reaching end-of-life each year, this technology could address multiple global challenges simultaneously: reducing toxic waste, recovering critical materials, sequestering carbon dioxide, and supporting the transition to green hydrogen energy.
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