PROJECT OVERVIEW
93,5 %
Lithium purity
in the LE-RFB reference system*
2,5 Wh
electrical energy consumption
per gram of lithium**
0,6 V
operating voltage
for continuous Li extraction*
500.000:1
Li/Mg selectivity
after 5 h of enrichment*
* Performance values of the underlying LE-RFB reference system (lithium-extraction redox flow battery); demonstrated with simulated seawater (Wang et al., ACS Energy Lett. 2022).
THE CHALLENGE
Batteries are part of the energy transition.
Their lithium should stay in the loop.
Lithium-ion batteries enable electric mobility and the storage of renewable energy. As their use grows, however, so does the demand for lithium – and the number of spent batteries. Conventional recycling can require high temperatures, aggressive chemicals, and complex separation processes. eLiRec therefore relies on selective electrochemical separation: using tailor-made materials, lithium is selectively recovered from complex solutions.
The energy transition requires high-performance energy storage. Batteries not only enable electric mobility; they also help store electricity from renewable sources such as wind and solar so it can be used flexibly over time and better balance supply and demand in the energy system. As electric vehicles and stationary storage expand worldwide, the demand
for battery raw materials, particularly lithium, continues to rise.
At the same time, the number of batteries reaching the end of their useful life is growing. To make the energy transition sustainable in the long term, valuable raw materials must therefore be kept in circulation as efficiently as possible. Conventional recycling processes can require high temperatures, aggressive chemicals, and complex multi-step separation processes.
eLiRec therefore takes an alternative approach: the selective electrochemical recovery of lithium from complex recycling solutions. Using tailor-made electrode materials, lithium is selectively separated from accompanying and interfering ions and returned to the materials cycle as a valuable resource.
VALUABLE LITHIUM
Lithium is a key raw material for batteries.
Recycling keeps existing lithium incirculation.
COMPLEX SEPARATION
After leaching, many ions are present together.
Selectively separating lithium from this mixture is technically challenging.
.
RESOURCE-INTENSIVE PROCESSES
High temperatures and multi-step chemical separation consume energy and generate additional process streams.
THE TECHNOLOGY
From desalination to selective lithium recovery.
The two animations show the key development step: conventional capacitive deionization (CDI) removes dissolved ions broadly and largely non-selectively. eLiRec, by contrast, applies a battery principle to separation and uses lithium-selective battery electrodes. This turns general desalination into targeted electrochemical lithium recovery – at low voltages and with the potential to reduce energy- and chemical-intensive downstream separation steps.
In capacitive deionization (CDI), dissolved positive ions (cations) and negative ions (anions) are stored at porous carbon electrodes by applying a small electrical voltage. This desalinates the solution, but is initially not lithium-selective: different ions are removed together.
eLiRec turns the CDI principle into a selective separation process: lithium-selective battery electrodes, for example lithium iron phosphate, preferentially take up Li ions into their crystal structure when an external current is applied and release them again during discharge. This “rocking-chair” principle enables targeted lithium enrichment.
Separate development step: eLiRec 2.0 later transferred lithium selectivity to a continuous redox-flow architecture. The performance metrics above refer to this LE-RFB reference system – not to the rocking-chair animation shown here.
THE IMPACT
Novel, selective,
and resource-efficient.
eLiRec demonstrates how electrochemical processes can add a new separation strategy to battery recycling. The focus is on lithium: rather than recovering as much material as possible indiscriminately, the goal is to selectively separate the desired raw material. In this way, eLiRec combines circular economy principles, raw-material security, and an electrically driven process that could in the future be coupled directly with renewable energy.
KEEPING LITHIUM IN THE LOOP
Recovered lithium could in the future be reused as a raw material for new battery materials.
REDUCED PROCESSING EFFORT
Selective electrochemistry can reduce the need for additional thermal and chemical separation steps.
ELECTRIC INSTEAD OF THERMAL
The energy required for separation is supplied as electricity and can therefore come directly from renewable sources.
WHY THIS CAN BE MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY
In the LE-RFB reference system, electrical energy consumption was 2.5 Wh per gram of lithium – at least seven times lower than in electrodialysis-based processes achieving comparable lithium purification.
CONTACT
Materials science meets electrochemistry.
eLiRec brings together battery research, materials science, electrochemistry, analytical science, and process development – with one shared goal: keeping lithium in the loop.
