Resource World Magazine

74 www.resourceworld.com D E C E M B E R / J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 0 Green Technologies by Jane Foutz RESEARCHING ALUMINUM BATTERIES Researchers from Sweden's Chalmers University of Technology and the National Institute of Chemistry in Slovenia have developed a new concept for an alumin- ium battery design that promises twice the energy density of previous aluminium batteries. Compared to the lithium-ion batteries, the new concept could lead to markedly lower production aluminium battery costs, the scientists say. Aluminium-based batteries are cheaper to make because aluminium is easily avail- able as well as being light weight, making it ideal for battery use. Another advantage is an established industry for aluminium manufacturing and recycling. As the journal, Energy Storage Materials, describes this new concept, aluminium is the negative electrode (the anode), and the positive electrode (the cathode) is graph- ite. But graphite does not have enough energy content to be useful in an alumi- num battery cell. In the new concept, the researchers replaced graphite with an organic, nano-structured cathode made of the carbon-based molecule anthraqui- none. "Because the new cathode material makes it possible to use a more appropri- ate charge-carrier, the batteries can make better usage of aluminium's potential," Chalmers researcher Niklas Lindahl said in a statement. "The material costs and environmental impacts that we envisage from our new concept are much lower American Manganese's independent contract lab, Kemetco Research, has successfully tested a five-stage pilot plant project that extracts scrap cathode material from lithium-ion batteries. Photo courtesy American Manganese Inc. RECOVERING CRITICAL METALS FROM END-OF-LIFE LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES As announced in their September 17, 2019 press release, American Manganese Inc. [AMY-TSXV; AMYZF-OTC; 2AM-FSE], headquartered in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, has developed a patented technology for recycling lithium-ion batteries to help mitigate the increase in spent lithium-ion battery waste. This increase has prompted the need for an efficient method of recovering the valu- able cathode materials that are trapped inside the battery waste. Existing recovery methods are capital intensive, use high heat (1,500°C) and result in low recovery rates and purity ratings. Many recovered cathode materials cannot be repurposed into new batteries. To address this need, AMY's independent contract lab, Kemetco Research, has suc- cessfully tested a five-stage pilot plant project that extracts scrap cathode material from lithium-ion batteries. The process delivers high extraction rates of cathode metals, such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese and aluminum at battery-grade purity, with minimal processing steps. The third-party source materials they use are disassembled end-of-life lithium-ion batteries and manufacturing scrap cathodes sent from Asia, North America, and Europe. The third-party materials undergo AMY's recycling process, RecycLiCo™, to achieve high recovery and battery grade purity. AMY plans to commercialize its breakthrough RecycLiCo™ process and become an industry leader in recycling cathode materials from spent lithium-ion batteries. "We are extremely pleased with the development and testing of our lithium-ion battery recycling pilot plant project," said Larry Reaugh, President and CEO of American Manganese. "We are in an excellent position to demonstrate our years of experience to potential tier- one partners in the lithium-ion battery industry."

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