Battery recycling raw materials and recycled products to be dealt with by the Wuhan Institute of Advanced Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in the Wuhan Economic & Technological Development Zone. [Photo/WeChat account: whkfq]
The Wuhan Institute of Advanced Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in the Wuhan Economic & Technological Development Zone (WEDZ) recently announced a significant milestone in the field of battery recycling.
The institute's battery recycling team has successfully developed key technologies for recycling used batteries, allowing for the recovery of all elements within retired power batteries.
Huang Jian, head of the battery recycling project at the research institute, revealed that his team has preliminarily completed the construction of a full life-cycle technology system for battery materials, encompassing production, recycling, and re-production.
Huang added that their goal is to recover all valuable elements such as lithium, iron, and phosphorus and convert them into battery-grade lithium carbonate and iron phosphate.
In May 2023, the battery materials team developed technology that was able to recover all elements of black powder from used lithium iron phosphate batteries, achieving high-quality recycling of iron phosphate, lithium carbonate, and sodium sulfate.
This advancement addresses key industrial challenges, as the industry currently lacks mature processes capable of recovering all battery elements. Removing critical impurities like aluminum and titanium during the iron phosphate regeneration process has been a significant challenge. Ensuring high product quality while achieving a lithium comprehensive recovery rate of over 90 percent is also crucial.
To overcome these industry bottlenecks, the institute's battery recycling team ultimately overcame the technical challenges of converting used lithium iron phosphate batteries into battery-grade iron phosphate and lithium carbonate materials through repeated processes of acid leaching, impurity removal, and purification.
The team achieved a 92 percent comprehensive recovery rate for lithium and a 99 percent comprehensive recovery rate for other elements, with purity indicators meeting battery-grade standards. This breakthrough signifies makes the institute a leader in the field of used lithium iron phosphate battery recycling.
The team has now partnered with a leading local phosphorus chemical company in Hubei province to establish a ton-scale pilot production line, which has been successfully implemented.
A staff member of the battery recycling team at the Wuhan Institute of Advanced Technology conduct development work in the laboratory. [Photo/WeChat account: whkfq]
