A team of Chinese researchers has announced a significant development in EV batteries, highlighting advancements in speed, sustainability, and impressive recovery statistics.
Working out of South Central University, Guizhou Normal University, and the National Advanced Energy Storage Materials Engineering Research Center, the team says they’ve cracked a new way to recycle lithium-ion batteries that recovers almost every bit of valuable metal—without relying on harsh acids or high heat.
The secret? A clever liquid cocktail made from iron, salt, sodium oxalate, and glycine (an amino acid you’ll also find in food supplements). When this eco-friendly mix hits spent battery materials, it breaks them down fast, recovering 99.99% of lithium in under 15 minutes. It also pulls out 96.8% of nickel, 92.35% of cobalt, and 90.59% of manganese. For context, most traditional methods struggle to recover even 80% of the lithium.
The catch with older methods like hydrometallurgy? They rely on strong acids—sulfuric, hydrochloric, nitric—and come with risks like toxic waste, leaks, and environmental damage. Not exactly a win for the green transition.
But this new glycine-based method flips that script. It’s pH-neutral, safer to handle, and leaves behind glycine that can actually be reused—as fertiliser. Circularity in action.
And the process also works at room temperature, slashing energy use. Compare that to Rice University’s “Flash Joule Heating” method, which also boasts high recovery rates—but needs a scorching 3,000°C to get there.
Why this matters: Lithium demand is soaring, and the global EV boom isn’t slowing down. But lithium mining is dirty, expensive, and geopolitically messy. Creating a secondary supply through recycling could be a major unlock—cutting costs, reducing emissions, and easing the strain on critical supply chains.
Right now, this breakthrough is still in the lab. But if it can be scaled for industry, it might just change how the world recycles batteries—and power the next chapter of clean mobility.
