A team of researchers from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and the DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory have developed a closed-loop process for recovering lithium from lithium-ion batteries.

In an article published in Green Chemistry, the researchers write: “We developed a sustainable lithium recovery process, which can selectively leach and recover lithium with formic acid before recycling valuable metals. With the reported method, lithium can be 99.8% recovered from layered oxide cathode materials with 99.994% purity.”

“In addition, this lithium recovery process is affordable, compared to the typical hydrometallurgical process. [It saves] 11.15% per kilogram of spent batteries,” according to the researchers.

“All chemicals can be reused via a facile distillation process, thereby allowing a fully closed-loop process for environmentally friendly lithium recovery,” according to Green Car Congress.

Source: Green Chemistry via Green Car Congress