GRAPHITE FROM BLACK MASS

How can we create a more circular system for our energy storage materials? The workshop “Closing the loop – innovations in battery recycling”, held in Gothenburg, focused on this question and brought together three publicly funded projects working to develop new methods for recycling valuable materials from end-of-life lithium-ion batteries.

When a battery has reached the end of its life, it is discharged, dismantled and ground down into what is known as Black Mass. The result is a complex mixture of metals, plastics, binders, electrolyte, carbon black and graphite that is particularly challenging to recycle. At present, it is mainly the rare metals in the batteries that have a high enough economic value to be recycled, while the remaining components are incinerated or put in landfills.

Recycled battery graphite as a raw material
2D fab is participating in one of the three projects, called “Graphite from Black Mass – converting trash into treasure”, with the aim of investigating how recycled battery graphite can be used as a raw material in our 2Dx^® production process. The workshop highlighted several strategies and techniques that could improve efficiency, economic sustainability, and circularity in recycling.

Promising results
As part of the project, we have already been able to show that it is possible to process Black Mass so that the graphite can be separated, and that the recycled graphite can then be exfoliated into graphene. So far, it is too early to determine whether the process can be scaled up, but the results indicate that the work is progressing in the right direction.

Insights from Our CTO
During the workshop, our CTO Magnus Larsson presented “A raw material perspective on recycled graphite”, sharing his views on graphite’s role in the circular battery economy of the future.

“Given that fossil graphite accounts for the single largest proportion of every lithium-ion battery, it is unsustainable not to recycle it. As graphene manufacturers, we have different requirements for our raw material, which could allow us to create value for the portion of recycled graphite that does not meet the standards for reuse in new batteries”

Next step
As the project “Graphite from Black Mass – converting trash into treasure” comes to a close, we are excited to share the insights and results from our work over the coming months.