Context

With the forecasted increase of the Li-ion battery (LIB) production, the recycling of LIB components to make them fully sustainable becomes a key environmental issue.[1] Among the critical elements contained in LIB, cobalt (Co) occupies a prominent position. The scope of this project is thus to explore a new method of Co recycling from spent LIBs based on polymer-assisted supercritical CO2 (scCO2) extraction.

Objectives of the internship

After completing the bibliographic survey on the recycling of Co from LIBs, the trainee will synthesize and characterize selected polymers.[2] Well-defined polymers, composed of CO2-philic units to impart solubility of the polymers into scCO2, and complexing units to allow the polymers to interact with the metals of interest, will be synthesized by controlled radical polymerization. Then, the polymers will be evaluated as complexing additives in the extraction of cobalt from LiCoO2 material in scCO2. Characterization techniques such as XRD, XPS, ICP-MS and XRF will be used to determine the chemical composition of the materials, the chemical state of Co as well as its concentration in the material, before and after extraction. After polymer-assisted scCO2 extraction, the possible recovery of Co from the polymer/cobalt complex by electrodeposition will be explored. The recovered Co will then be used to produce new cathode materials to complete its life cycle and its performance will be evaluated in Li-ion batteries. The candidate will benefit from expertise of IAM team (polymer, scCO2) and AIME team (batteries, https://www.icgm.fr/en/aime-en).

Details for application

To apply, please send your application (CV + motivation letter, recommendation letter(s) will be appreciated) by email to Dr. Patrick LACROIX-DESMAZES (patrick.lacroix-desmazes@enscm.fr), Dr. Laure MONCONDUIT (laure.monconduit@umontpellier.fr) and Dr. Moulay Tahar SOUGRATI (moulay-tahar.sougrati@umontpellier.fr), indicating the reference « Internship 2021 SUPERBAT ».

References:

[1] D. Werner et al., Recycling Chain for Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries, Metals 2020, 10, 316. https://doi.org/10.3390/met10030316
[2] A. Ruiu et al., Promising polymer-assisted extraction of palladium from supported catalysts in supercritical carbon dioxide, Journal of CO2 Utilization 2020, 41, 101232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcou.2020.101232