Issue 12, 2022

Benign solvents for recycling and re-use of a multi-layer battery pouch

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 150–160 μm to 70–80 μm in under 1 h 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.

Graphical abstract: Benign solvents for recycling and re-use of a multi-layer battery pouch

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
01 mar. 2022
Accepted
03 may. 2022
First published
04 may. 2022
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Mater. Adv., 2022,3, 4973-4981

Benign solvents for recycling and re-use of a multi-layer battery pouch

J. E. Marshall, B. Middleton, D. Gastol, R. Sommerville, C. R. McElroy, E. Kendrick and V. Goodship, Mater. Adv., 2022, 3, 4973 DOI: 10.1039/D2MA00239F

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