| Abstract Scope |
The current development of electric vehicles continues to steadily increase production of lithium-ion batteries. This expansion of manufacturing leads to a more materially and financially significant stream of quality-control-rejected electrode scraps. Of these scraps, anode materials, including graphite and copper, are of interest for reintroduction to the production stream. Here, we report a novel, versatile and water-based method for delaminating anode films from copper current collectors that takes advantage of the chemical properties of a surfactant and a salt. We demonstrate the processing of as-received scraps into coin-cell anodes and the reprocessing of the delaminated films into new coin-cell anodes for physical, chemical, and electrochemical characterization using half-cell testing. Finally, we present and discuss the results of rheology, XRD, FTIR and charge-discharge testing. This robust and industrially scalable method for anode-scrap recovery allows battery manufacturers to recycle quality-
control-rejected anodes quickly and effectively, minimizing waste and maximizing profit. |