Speaker
Description
There has been growing concern in recent years about the security of supply of strategic raw and advanced materials that are critical for our modern technologies. This is the case of Rare Earth Permanent Magnets (REPMs) and Li-ion Batteries (LiB). For the latter, Europe is almost fully dependant on import of both battery cells and their constituting raw and processed materials, exposing the industry to supply uncertainties and potential high costs. This is the reason why boosting the recycling of LiB is necessary, in order to allow key elements such as cobalt, lithium, manganese and nickel to be recovered and reused.
The increasing applications of REPMs have direct influence on their growing global market. However, recent socioeconomic pressures, partly due to the monopoly of China in Rare Earth Elements (REE) production led to the development of recycling Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) in industrialized countries, included in “urban mines”.
In this study, we present new and environmentally friendly approaches for recycling REPMs and cathodes of LiB. The recycling processes are based on solvothermal treatments, and their advantages, compared to existing processes are as follows :
- They lead to the separation of the elements initially present in the materials (NdFeB magnets or cathodes of LiB) ;
- They are performed at low temperature (<500°C) ;
- They do not require the use of acids or bases since the materials remain solids throughout the process ;
- They use low environmental impact and low cost solvents.
We have shown that the completed process leads to the separation of all the chemicals elements in solid form, but also in the case of NdFeB magnets, that if the process is stopped at the right time, it makes it possible to obtain a magnetic powder which can be used directly to make new magnets.
| Speaker Country | France |
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