DOE invests $2 million in li-ion battery recycling and remanufacturing technologies

The Department of Energy's (DoE) Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO) on Wednesday announced a $2 million investment in the li-ion battery recycling, rejuvenation and reuse of lithium-ion battery programs administered through Argonne National Laboratory's (ANL) ReCell Center.

The latest investment is a part of the U.S. government's efforts to strengthen America's energy independence and secure critical materials required for manufacturing lithium-ion cells. AMMTO will support the formation of Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADA) between the National Laboratories that are part of the ReCell Center and industry partners to conduct research, development and demonstration projects (RD&D).

"The CRADA projects will require a 50% cost share between DOE and private partners, although RD&D projects without a CRADA will also be considered," DOE stated in its official release.

Further, support will be prioritized for those projects which are located in a state or states that have lithium mining or li-ion battery manufacturing operations.

Development of room temperature process for recycling and reuse of electrodes, rejuvenation (re-manufacturing) of electrodes for direct reuse, recycling of electrolytes and education and workforce development would be the focus areas for the project.

According to DOE, up to eight projects will be funded with an anticipated performance period of one year. The selected projects will focus on research, education, and workforce development and will be tasked with de-risking and scaling up novel processes for the recycling and reuse of materials from more than 2 million tonnes of Li-ion batteries projected to be available within the decade.