en.Wedoany.com Reported - A research team at Cornell University has developed a battery recycling method called Direct Electrode-to-Electrode Regeneration (DEER), which can restore 95% of the power in used batteries and reduce recycling manufacturing costs by 56%. This method does not involve crushing or grinding batteries; instead, it directly repairs electrodes through chemical cleaning, allowing them to be reused in new batteries.
The current mainstream approach in the industry for handling used batteries involves high-temperature furnace incineration or grinding them into "black mass" followed by soaking in corrosive acids to extract rare minerals such as nickel and cobalt. This recycling process is costly, generates high carbon emissions, and causes significant pollution. Professor Vibha Kalra, the Fred H. Rhodes Professor of Chemical Engineering at Cornell University's Duffield School of Engineering, stated that this method repairs batteries without destroying their structure, and the dissolution process helps restore battery capacity, significantly shortening the recycling loop.
Battery failure is typically not due to mineral depletion, but rather the gradual formation of a crust-like fouling layer called the solid electrolyte interphase between the positive and negative electrodes during charge-discharge cycles. This fouling layer impedes energy flow, yet all materials remain present. Traditional recycling requires destroying the entire component for cleaning, whereas the DEER method is gentler: workers open the battery casing, remove intact electrodes, and immerse them in a solution of 1,3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone. This solution dissolves the insulating buildup while preserving the internal structure of the electrodes. The process also helps reduce air pollution and significantly lowers industrial water usage.
The global supply chain for critical battery materials currently faces disruption risks. The United States lacks domestic reserves of key minerals needed for modern batteries, relies heavily on complex foreign supply chains for imported materials, and lacks large-scale infrastructure for refining or rebuilding crushed battery powder. By keeping battery components intact, the DEER method eliminates the need for costly overseas remanufacturing, enabling the recycling process to be completed locally, quickly, and at a lower cost.
The research team's next phase plans to test the DEER method on larger-scale industrial batteries and adjust the process to address other forms of battery degradation, such as permanent lithium loss. Currently, the technology has successfully handled batteries with a state of health between 70% and 80%, which is the typical retirement threshold for electric vehicles. Researchers believe that targeting additional degradation mechanisms could further expand the recovery window. The findings were published on June 9 in the journal Energy and Environmental Science.
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