Purification of Impure Recycled Graphite Concentrates Generated from Lithium-Ion Battery (LiB) Recycling

PROJECT COST:

547 600 $

PRIMA CONTRIBUTION:

383 320 $

PROJECT DETAILS:

Several lithium-ion battery (LiB) recyclers have developed processes for the partial recovery of metals (Li, Co, Ni) from black mass—a mixture of battery materials that also contains graphite. Currently, these companies have no solution for complete metal extraction or for the reuse and valorization of the graphite concentrates obtained from recycled LiBs.

The objective of the project led by Technologies Graphites Vertes (GGT) is to validate a process for converting impure recycled graphite concentrates into LiB-quality graphite flakes.

Several mining companies, including Nouveau Monde Graphite, are participating in a demonstration project for the environmentally and economically sustainable GraphPure™ technology, supported by Investissement Québec (IQ) and Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC).

GraphPure™ is also applicable for processing graphite obtained from LiB recyclers. Industrial partners Li-Cycle Holdings Corp (Toronto, ON) and Recyclage Lithion (Anjou, QC) will supply the graphite concentrates, and GGT will conduct laboratory-scale testing at their new Montreal facilities.

The project will also support the training of a postdoctoral fellow at INRS-EMT, who will evaluate graphite quality, including purity, morphology, particle size, and battery-test performance.

This Quebec-based process for reusing graphite recovered from recycled LiBs will assist LiB recyclers in making their operations more environmentally sustainable, effectively closing the loop of the circular economy. Moreover, this new technology will create local and sustainable jobs to support the battery sector as well as the transportation and energy industries, while reducing the ecological footprint of materials and batteries produced in Quebec.