Lithium-ion battery recycler American Manganese and metallurgical laboratory and R&D contractor Kemetco Research has produced cathode precursor material.
The material was produced from lithium nickel cobalt aluminum oxide (NCA) cathode waste using American Manganese’s RecycLiCo process.
The material, produced by its pilot plant project and specialised cathode reactor, was analysed with scanning electron microscopy to verify the spherical morphology requested by a tier-one battery manufacturer.
The Canadian-headquartered firm plans to produce a range of precursor samples to be evaluated in collaboration with the tier-one battery manufacturer.
The Government of Canada has generated a list of 31 critical minerals, including lithium, cobalt, manganese, nickel, and aluminum.
The announcement was made in the same week American Magnese received a ‘Notice of Allowance’ from the Korean Intellectual Property Office for the National Phase Patent Application for its RecycLiCo technology.
The ‘Notice of Allowance’ is a formal notification indicating it is allowed for issuance as a patent in Korea.
The NCA cathode chemistry is produced by some of the largest battery manufacturers and commonly used in modern electric vehicle batteries.
Image: Scanning electron microscopy scan of cathode precursor from recycled NCA cathode waste