Fraunhofer Research Institution for Battery Cell Production FFB
Fraunhofer Research Institution for Battery Cell Production FFB

SeRoBatt: "Secondary Sources of Critical Raw Materials for Battery Cell Production - Potentials, Recovery, Resynthesis"

Brief description

The aim of the research project is to identify and develop secondary raw material sources for battery cell production. The focus is on end-of-life (EoL) products that are not batteries. Suitable recycling processes will be developed for these EoL products and the recyclates obtained will be resynthesized into NMC active material and reintegrated into test cells. A final performance evaluation and limit analysis will provide information on contamination tolerances. 

At present, material cycles are not closed, so a significant mass flow of EoL products either ends up in landfills or is exported abroad as scrap. As a result, valuable raw materials are lost. In addition, the new EU Battery Directive increases the pressure on manufacturers to incorporate certain minimum levels of recycled materials into new batteries, despite the fact that the recycling market does not have sufficient used batteries available and that European recycling capacities are only just being established.

In the sense of a circular research approach, various EoL products containing lithium, nickel, manganese and cobalt will be identified by means of material and material flow analyses and examined for the recyclability and usability of their raw materials for the battery industry. Since glass-ceramics are the second largest lithium-containing product group after lithium-ion batteries and there is currently no regulated material cycle, the focus is on this group.

An environmental and economic assessment is used to examine the extent to which raw material recovery can be considered meaningful from the same perspective. Upstream and downstream steps from collection, disassembly, pre-treatment, recovery and resynthesis are also examined to analyze the environmental and economic viability of a circular business model. The evaluation is carried out in a continuous consideration of the whole system, taking into account possible alternative processing routes. Finally, the results are summarized in a "secondary raw material map" and the transferability to other material flows as well as optimization potentials and regulatory gaps are shown.

Project schedule

The work plan is divided into eight work packages:

  1. Material and material flow analysis to identify relevant EoL products
  2. Sourcing, disassembly and characterization of selected material streams as input for mechanical processing
  3. Development and testing of product-specific mechanical processing concepts to prepare EoL products for lithium and NMC recovery processes.
  4. Recovery of lithium as lithium carbonate from Li-containing glass ceramic powder
  5. Process development and implementation for recovery of NMC materials
  6. Assessment of industrial transferability under environmental and economic aspects
  7. Use of recyclates in active material synthesis and cell construction. Derivation of quality requirements for metal salts and identification of a reasonable recyclate content for the production of new lithium-ion batteries.
  8. Collection of relevant research results from the project for industrial implementation

Utilization of results

The project will provide important knowledge and results in the field of recycling, recyclate recovery and reintegration in battery cell production. The potential of secondary raw material sources and the economic and ecological added value that can be generated from them will be investigated. This is relevant for the waste management sector in North Rhine-Westphalia and beyond as well as for the German battery industry.

The results will also provide important insights into the possibility of closing the loop for EoL products for which this has not yet been done, as well as the possibilities and limits of using recyclates from non-battery material streams. The recycling industry in North Rhine-Westphalia has a broad network of players who must position themselves for the new challenges against the backdrop of rising raw material prices and strict regulatory requirements. The massive expansion of battery production capacities and the associated demand for raw materials is opening up a new market for the recycling industry. The requirements of this market for secondary raw materials and the necessary infrastructure will be investigated in this project. The project thus supports the strategy of the EU Commission to secure critical raw materials and offers a concrete approach to increase the security of supply of mineral raw materials in North Rhine-Westphalia.

An additional expansion of the recycling industry in North Rhine-Westphalia through the development of new markets also supports the strengthening of NRW as a business location. This will give the partners involved a head start in the field of recyclates from non-battery products.