Beyond Recycling: How Pope Scientific Equipment Enables Next-Generation Battery Upcycling
The Growing Demand for Lithium-Ion Battery Technology
Lithium-Ion Battery (LIB) technology has become increasingly important in recent years with the growth of electric vehicles and several other markets requiring LIB power. Many improvements are being made in technology, but rechargeability lifetimes for many batteries remain limited to typically 10-15 years.
Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling and Material Sourcing
The majority of these batteries utilize a cathode lattice layer consisting of Nickel, Manganese, and Cobalt (NMC), in addition to Lithium. With age, the composition and structure of NMC changes, resulting in lower energy apacity. One reason for this is the gradual decline in Nickel (Ni) percentage in the cathode. This lower-energy material is known as NMC111, and it is a major factor in LIB lifetime.
However, these materials are expensive, subject to sourcing risk, and present pronounced health and environmental hazards for end-of-life disposal. For these reasons, the technologies for effective, economic lithium battery recycling have become as important as those for original manufacturing.
Recycling schemes entailing crushing and completely separating each of the materials into their individual starting forms and using them for remaking batteries nearly “from scratch” have been found to be impractical. Most current approaches involve partial separations of used batteries and renewal of intermediate contents such that the subsequent and final steps of making new batteries from intermediates result in finished items equal or close to brand new products. This process is increasingly referred to as battery upcycling.
Lithium Battery Diagram
One upcycling approach for this involves battery deconstruction, grinding of cathode material into very small particles and increasing the relative level of Ni via a precipitation reaction onto NMC particles while suspended in a turbulent chemical reactor. This renewed material is designated as NMC622. (After reaction processing, several steps are required, including re-fusing and annealing together of these particles at 800-1000°C, and forming renewed cathode films which are sandwiched together with other material layers and electrolyte in the fabrication of upcycled LIB’s).
Continuous Stirred Tank Reactors (CSTRs) for Battery Upcycling Processes
Pope Scientific equipment has a role to play in this process in the design and manufacturing of specialized reactors. Continuous stirred tank reactors (CSTR’s) are used, rather than batch reactors, as they are optimal for the process plus are scalable to large industrial production requirements. R&D lab and pilot-scale systems have been made and utilized for various clients, including Argonne National Laboratory.
The process involves a slow, continuous feed into the stirred reactor of a solution NMC111 cathode particles suspended in solvent. Simultaneously, Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) and Nickel Sulphate (NiSO4) solutions are also fed in at tightly controlled feed rates at stoichiometric ratios. These two chemicals react and precipitate, forming a Nickel Hydroxide (Ni(OH)2) layer onto the surface of the cathode particles in motion. The reaction also causes the pH to change, thus to keep it constant, a buffer must also be added to the reactor. Finished product slowly discharges from the reactor via an upper overflow port. This continuous reaction may be run from several hours to several days. Later in the overall upcycling process during annealing, the Oxygen and Hydrogen are driven off from the deposited (Ni(OH)2), leaving behind elemental Nickel enriched in ratio, bringing the cathode material up to “like new” NMC622 specifications.
Critical Process Controls for CSTR Reactor Performance
The CSTR requires the following automation for proper, optimized operation:
- Control of reactor temperature via vessel jacketing and a thermal fluid heating/cooling circulator with PID setpoint
- Control of feed rates of cathode suspension, reactants, and buffer via pressurized vessels, flow control valves and flowrate sensors in individual PID control loops
- Control of pH via pH probe, buffer pump and PID control loop
- Control of agitator speed
- Controls for vessel pressurization
- A PLC control system for control of the above plus data logging
The photo shows an example of a twin reactor system with two 4-liter 316L stainless steel ASME vessels, automated raising top heads, custom agitators and baffling, thermal circulators, pressurized vessels, piping, and the control instrumentation described above. Pope Scientific routinely produces customized reactors such as this example to meet the wide range of specialized needs of researchers and production groups at companies and institutions worldwide.
Twin 4L Reactor System with PLC for battery materials R&D
Processing Equipment for Lithium-Ion Battery Manufacturing and Upcycling
Turnkey 12” Molecular Still with Degassing Stage System, Corner View
Lithium-ion battery manufacturing and upcycling involve other processes where Pope Scientific equipment is utilized. For example, there are many materials and formulations used in R&D and production of batteries that need to be concentrated or distilled. Pope’s Wiped Film Evaporators (WFE) and Wiped Film Molecular Stills (WFMS) are particularly useful when materials are thermally sensitive and may partially decompose if processed with other, conventional, still equipment. When high purity is paramount, Pope’s Fractional Column Distillation Systems are utilized in either batch or continuous mode designs.
Electrolyte and Specialty Chemical Processing
For Lithium battery R&D and small lot runs, many organizations require a variety of different Lithium electrolyte solutions, many of which are custom formulations. Manufacturing these materials is very difficult and dangerous and is thus usually best left to specialized vendors who are equipped and experienced in the practice. This type of manufacturing requires reaction vessels equipped for accurate feed, dissolving, and blending for a variety of different liquid and solid ingredients, which change for each product run.
Pope designs and manufactures such systems in a range of sizes, custom-engineered for safe, isolated handling of the corrosive and hazardous materials, incorporating complex instrumentation and control elements, piping, and automation. Special “Safety PLC” systems with redundant SIL certification and componentry, multistep batching programmability, recipe storage, and other features are required for accurate and safe batch manufacturing.
100L XP Nutsche Filter Dryer with Cake Agitator and Rotating Stand
Solid-Liquid Separation in Battery Upcycling
Another application in battery and electronic materials manufacturing involves reactions where crystallization and precipitation occur near the end, creating slurries of solid particles suspended in solution. The crystals are often solids of high purity requiring post-reaction processing.
Pope’s Nutsche Filter-Dryer systems are designed for this purpose. Slurry is fed into a Nutsche, where filtrate liquid is efficiently passed through a large diameter bottom filter disc under vessel pressure. The resulting solids filter cake is then washed with rinses of fresh solvent for increased purity and then dried in the same vessel under heat, vacuum, and churned with a rising/lowering/rotating full-diameter blade agitator.
This process is utilized in many industries, including pharmaceuticals, biochemicals, ultra-pure fine chemicals, electronic materials, and others. Pope manufactures Nutsche Filter-Dryer systems from lab bench scale to pilot plant and production scale, in stainless steel and Hastelloy construction.
Integrated Equipment Solutions for Lithium-Ion Battery Manufacturing
Pope Scientific brings decades of specialized engineering expertise to the rapidly evolving lithium-ion battery industry, offering an integrated portfolio of equipment solutions that address critical stages of both battery manufacturing and upcycling.
From precision CSTR reactor systems for cathode material renewal, to wiped film evaporators, fractional distillation systems, electrolyte blending vessels, and Nutsche Filter-Dryers, Pope’s capabilities span the full process chain.
As the demand for sustainable battery technology continues to accelerate, Pope Scientific remains committed to providing the custom-engineered, high-performance systems that researchers, developers, and manufacturers need to advance next-generation energy storage solutions.
Contact us to discuss your lithium-ion battery processing requirements or to explore a custom-engineered solution.
