Automotive Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling: A Theoretical Evaluation

Lithium-ion Batteries (LiBs) are today used in significant quantities in the automotive industry. As these batteries are expected to last the lifetime of the vehicle, they will not be ending their useful lives in large numbers for another 10-15 years. An opportunity does therefore exist to prepare for some of the roadblocks that might arise during the development of technologies for environmentally sound recycling of LiBs. In view of this, there is a need for reliable thermodynamic and kinetic data so that a secondary product of high enough metal value, as well as quality, can be produced making it possible to find a market for its purpose.In the present study the equilibrium conditions for obtaining the best conditions possible for recovering the metal content through the aluminum recycling process were studied. All thermodynamic calculations were performed using the FactSage™ software, and the chosen chemical compositions represent the two main families of LiBs, i.e. LiNiCOAlO₂ and LiFePO₄. The possible production of PH₃ and P₄ (white phosphor) during the recycling process is also briefly discussed.