Argonne researchers using capacitive deionization for battery recycling and bioenergy production

In Illinois, when a car battery reaches the end of its life, it goes to an automotive shredder that chops it up. Getting out the useful chemicals from these chopped up batteries is no easy task. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have turned to a process called capacitive deionization that uses the electric charges of nickel, manganese and cobalt to select them out from the waste stream.

The capacitive deionization process that the researchers use for battery recycling also has uses in other areas, including bioenergy production. The Bioprocessing Separations Consortium is a group of researchers from six national laboratories that together research and develop separations processes and technology needed for the conversion of biomass to biofuel. (The group was established in 2016 by DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office within the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.)

Unlike the battery recycling technology, which targets positively charged ions, bioenergy production requires researchers to search for negatively charged molecules.

Once separated, these compounds are versatile and can be converted into hydrocarbon biofuels, such as renewable diesel or sustainable aviation fuel.