Waste Electrode Foil Recycling via Thermal Expansion Separation
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Solution Overview
Problem
The manufacturing of lithium-ion accumulator electrodes generates waste materials with attached electrode active materials, which are difficult to recycle efficiently due to differences in thermal expansion properties and varying quality standards, leading to inefficient separation and reuse of metallic foils.
Innovation Solution
A recycling method that separates electrode active material from metallic foils through thermal treatment under controlled conditions, utilizing differences in thermal expansion coefficients and gas flows or mechanical separation, followed by reuse of recovered foils and recycling of detached active materials for new electrodes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If thermal treatment is applied to separate electrode active material from metallic foils, then material recovery efficiency is improved, but process complexity increases due to controlled temperature requirements and different thermal expansion management
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes the difference in thermal expansion coefficients between the electrode active material and metallic foil to achieve automatic separation. During thermal treatment, the coating material expands at a different rate than the substrate, causing the coating to detach and separate from the foil without requiring complex mechanical separation systems
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the temperature parameter during processing to optimize separation. By controlling the thermal treatment temperature, the process exploits the thermal expansion difference between materials while maintaining manageable process complexity through a single dominant control parameter
2Manufacturing precision
If waste pieces are collected and treated separately by type, then separation quality is improved, but loss of time increases due to multiple collection and treatment steps
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different thermal treatment conditions to different types of waste pieces based on their specific characteristics. By tailoring the thermal processing parameters to each waste type's local requirements, high separation quality is achieved without requiring overly complex multi-step classification systems
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Effectively recycles waste electrodes by detaching active materials from foils, allowing for the reuse of metallic foils and the re-manufacturing of electrode active material suspensions, thereby optimizing material recovery and reducing waste.
Implementation Method 1
the different thermal expansion properties, i.e. - in particular, the different coefficients of longitudinal expansion, are utilized to detach the electrode active material from the foil pieces
Data Source
AI summary
A method for recycling waste that arises during the manufacturing of electrodes for lithium-ion accumulators, material strips being produced during the manufacturing, each material strip including a foil made from a metallic material, which is coated with an electrode active material. Pieces of the material strips accumulating as waste during the manufacturing and being collected separately for recycling. Each piece including a foil piece, on which electrode active material is applied, and, for the purpose of recycling, the pieces are subjected to a thermal treatment to detach the electrode active material from the foil sections.