Marshall, Jean E., Middleton, Bethany, Gastol, Dominika et al. (4 more authors) (2022) Benign solvents for recycling and re-use of a multi-layer battery pouch. Materials Advances. pp. 4973-4981. ISSN 2633-5409
Abstract
This article describes a process for the repair and re-use of an aluminium-containing pouch used as an outer casing for a Lithium-ion battery cell. As Lithium-ion batteries become more widespread, particularly with their increasing use in the automotive industry and in consumer electronics, recycling them is becoming an important challenge. Current recycling approaches for Li-ion batteries focus on reclamation of the high-value metals found in the electrodes. However, in order to minimise the environmental impact of the battery it would be optimal to be able to reclaim and re-use other components. Since many battery cells consist of an electrode stack held inside an outer pouch, we herein describe the structure of such a pouch and suggest methods for selectively stripping and repairing the inner layer, allowing the material to be re-used. We investigated the use of three different solvents (xylene, limonene, and 2,2,5,5-tetramethyloxolane) for the selective stripping of the polypropylene (PP) layer on the inner side of a pouch material. Each solvent was tested on both ‘pristine’ pouch material (as obtained from the manufacturer) and pouch material that had previously been part of a battery. For ‘used’ pouch material, the overall thickness of the film decreased from 150-160μm to 70-80 μm in under 1hr for all three solvents (corresponding to the removal of the PP layer), whereas for the ‘pristine’ pouch higher temperatures and longer times were required; this result is suggestive of some polymer degradation during the life of the pouch. Following the removal of the PP layer, virgin PP was subsequently added to renew the multi-layer structure.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Chemistry (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 13 May 2022 14:20 |
Last Modified: | 24 Oct 2024 00:15 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1039/D2MA00239F |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1039/D2MA00239F |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:186825 |