Influence of foam composite in lithium-ion battery packs on their mechanical recycling

Lithium-ion batteries (LIB) play a key role in the energy transition, serving as storage solutions for both mobile and stationary applications. Recovering the valuable materials contained in LIB at the end of their life is central to developing a circular economy in line with sustainability principles.Processes for the mechanical recycling of LIB have already been successfully developed and implemented, enabling most components of a LIB to be recovered, including the materials of the anode, cathode and separator foils, as well as the casing. The concentrate resulting from the coating of the electrode foils, which is called black mass, becomes an intermediate product for hydrometallurgical recycling processes for the recovery of lithium, among other materials.Some OEM in the automotive industry are about to introduce cell-to-pack technologies, in which individual LIB cells are fixed and stabilised in position inside the large battery pack with the aid of a polymeric foam. This adds further materials to the battery pack. The effects of the foam on recycling are not yet known. Within the scope of this experimental work, several technological variants for enriching and separating the foam as an individual material fraction were investigated, achieving foam recoveries of between 79 % and 99 %. The overall goal is to minimise contamination of the valuable fractions by the foam. The effect of two different types of foam on the purity of the recycling products was analysed.