Recycling and Regeneration of Graphite from End-of-life Lithium-ion Batteries and Anode Production Scrap (Part of SUMBAT SP5 and KSP Projects)

Funded by the Research Council of Norway, Innovation Norway, Industrial Development Corporation of Norway, and Industrial Partners.

Lithium-ion batteries are central to electrification and energy storage, but their rapid growth has created an urgent need for sustainable management of end-of-life batteries and production scrap. While recycling efforts have often focused on valuable cathode metals, graphite, the primary anode material, remains significantly under-recovered despite contributing substantially to battery mass and cost.

This project focuses on developing efficient and scalable methods to recover, regenerate, and upgrade spent graphite from end-of-life batteries and battery production waste. In parallel, the project is investigating strategies for recovering metals from lean process streams, supporting more complete resource utilization across the battery recycling value chain.

A key part of the work involves understanding how recovery and regeneration processes affect the structure, surface chemistry, porosity, and electrochemical performance of graphite materials. To this end, the project uses advanced characterization techniques including X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, BET surface area analysis, and electrochemical testing.

While the project is ongoing, this work has already produced results through collaboration with industrial partners in the SUMBAT initiative, including a validated characterization framework for black mass from end-of-life NMC batteries and demonstrated pre-treatment routes — froth flotation and solvent-based washing — for separating and upgrading graphite by removing residual PVDF binder. These results lay the groundwork for the project's continued aim of developing scientifically robust and industrially relevant solutions for battery material recovery, transforming battery waste into high-value materials for future energy storage technologies and contributing to a more circular, resource-efficient, and sustainable battery value chain.