TY - JOUR

T1 - Recycling graphite from waste aluminium smelter Spent Pot Lining into lithium-ion battery electrode feedstock

AU - Robshaw, Thomas

AU - Atkinson, Daniel

AU - Howse, Jonathan

AU - Ogden, Mark

AU - Cumming, Denis

PY - 2022/6/1

Y1 - 2022/6/1

N2 - There is an urgent need for alternative sources of graphite, to satisfy the demands of a number of industries, including use in lithium-ion battery production. Spent potlining (SPL) represents an attractive potential source of such graphite, but requires detoxification to allow valorisation of its carbonaceous fraction. We present here a simple decontamination process for SPL, based on two-stage caustic/acidic leaching, and demonstrate how the recovered graphite may be fabricated into Li-ion electrodes. The recycled batteries are assessed against a commercial equivalent and it is found that the charge capacity increases with the thoroughness of decontamination treatment. The specific capacity of the recovered graphite is seen to compete with commercial graphite in terms of charge capacity retention. However, some residual contamination may contribute towards instability in the formed solid electrolyte interface (SEI) which requires future resolution. Overall, the potential of SPL-derived graphite to be employed in this remit is significant and has far-reaching consequences for the economics of the aluminium industry, raw material sustainability and a low-carbon economy.

AB - There is an urgent need for alternative sources of graphite, to satisfy the demands of a number of industries, including use in lithium-ion battery production. Spent potlining (SPL) represents an attractive potential source of such graphite, but requires detoxification to allow valorisation of its carbonaceous fraction. We present here a simple decontamination process for SPL, based on two-stage caustic/acidic leaching, and demonstrate how the recovered graphite may be fabricated into Li-ion electrodes. The recycled batteries are assessed against a commercial equivalent and it is found that the charge capacity increases with the thoroughness of decontamination treatment. The specific capacity of the recovered graphite is seen to compete with commercial graphite in terms of charge capacity retention. However, some residual contamination may contribute towards instability in the formed solid electrolyte interface (SEI) which requires future resolution. Overall, the potential of SPL-derived graphite to be employed in this remit is significant and has far-reaching consequences for the economics of the aluminium industry, raw material sustainability and a low-carbon economy.

KW - Graphite

KW - Waste valorisation

KW - Lithium-ion battery

KW - Spent potlining

U2 - 10.1016/j.clpl.2022.100004

DO - 10.1016/j.clpl.2022.100004

M3 - Article

VL - 2

SP - 100004

JO - Cleaner Production Letters

JF - Cleaner Production Letters

SN - 2666-7916

ER -