Lithium recovered from battery waste using electrochemically driven low-cost process

Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed a novel, electrochemically driven process to recover lithium from spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), addressing critical supply chain concerns for this essential battery metal. Their method involves leaching metals from dismantled batteries into an organic solvent, then selectively capturing lithium ions using a polymer-coated electrode within an electrochemical cell. The key innovation is a redox-active crown ether copolymer that selectively binds lithium even in the presence of competing metals like iron, nickel, and cobalt. This polymer can be electrochemically regenerated by applying a voltage, releasing the captured lithium for collection while leaving other metals behind, enabling repeated, efficient recovery cycles without the need for harsh chemical treatments. The study, published in ACS Energy Letters, highlights that this approach is both highly selective and energy-efficient, with lithium uptake doubled due to the redox-active polymer design. A techno-economic analysis suggests the recovered lithium could be produced at costs competitive with or lower than current market prices (