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AQUA METALS RECOVERS COPPER FROM LITHIUM-ION BATTERY BLACK MASS
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recyclingproductnews.com | APRIL 2022
qua Metals has recovered copper from lithium-ion battery black mass at the company’s Tahoe-Reno location. The plating of the high-quality copper, which is selectively plated atom-by-atom, is another step towards Aqua Metals’ goal of recovering all high-value materials in lithium-ion batteries. To date, the company has also produced high-purity lithium hydroxide from lithium-ion battery black mass and has successfully lab-tested cobalt plating. Copper is an important raw material for manufacturing the copper foil for lithium-ion batteries. Electric vehicles can contain more than a mile of copper wires, using 4 to 16 times more copper than gasoline-powered vehicles. As of 2021, the world consumed 30 million tonnes of copper per year, and by 2050 it is predicted to double to 60 million tonnes. Efficient and clean recycling methods for recovering copper from spent lithium-ion batteries are critical to meeting this global demand. The company recycles spent lithium-ion batteries in a clean, economical way that is fundamentally non-polluting by utilizing the renewable electron as the reagent instead of chemicals or high heat. The room-temperature process uses about 1/200th of the chemicals of a standard hydro process and does not generate the carbon footprint of a high heat approach. Li AquaRefining is a closed-loop process that recycles the chemicals it uses. Consequently, it has a fraction of the waste streams, estimated at approximately 99.5 percent less than the standard hydro process, according to the company. “What differentiates us from other metals recycling processes is that our technology produces high-purity metals. Cathode materials can be produced from pure metals, and starting with high-purity metals is the best approach to making cathode materials,” said David Regan, vice president of commercial for Aqua Metals. “We believe our technology will provide our partners with the ability to recycle more economically and cleanly, and provide a superior business opportunity with the option of selling product back into the battery supply chain or selling high-purity metals to the metals industry.” In addition to lithium and copper, Aqua Metals’ R&D program is working to recycle the other critical elements of lithium-ion batteries such as cobalt, nickel, and manganese. Aqua Metals will continue to update the market when meaningful progress is made in the recycling process.
