Clean recovery process for cathode metals from spent EV
This technology is a cleaner, more efficient way to recycle the valuable metals inside lithium-ion battery cathodes—the components that contain lithium, nickel, cobalt, and manganese. Instead of burning the materials at high temperatures (pyrometallurgy) or dissolving them in harsh acids (hydrometallurgy), the process uses a molten salt bath combined with a metal reducing agent to chemically extract those metals as solid precipitates. The claimed recovery rate exceeds 90%, which is meaningfully higher than many conventional approaches. Critically, the process generates no exhaust gases or waste liquids, and all the salt and reducing agent inputs can be recycled and reused in subsequent batches.
What you could build
A commercial battery recycling service or equipment system targeting EV battery pack processors and gigafactory scrap handlers who need to recover cathode metals at high yield with minimal regulatory burden; battery manufacturers and dedicated recyclers like Redwood Materials, Li-Cycle, or Umicore would be natural buyers or licensees.
Who in Virginia should care
Virginia-based defense contractors and EV fleet operators (e.g., Amazon logistics hubs, federal fleet programs) with battery disposal obligations, plus any recycling or advanced-materials company seeking to site operations near mid-Atlantic EV supply chains.
Readiness: Lab validated
Concept — described but not yet demonstrated. Lab validated — supported by experimental results in the patent. Prototype likely — the text describes a built, working embodiment.
Readiness is inferred from the patent text, not from a lab visit.
The record
- Inventors
- Jinsuo ZHANG, Mingyang ZHANG, Yun XU, Bryan Yonemoto, Wenjuan Liu Mattis
- Filed
- Patent pending — filed June 28, 2023
- Status
- Application
- Publication number
- US20250007021A1
Ready to talk?
Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties handles licensing for this technology.
Prosim summaries are generated from public patent text and are not legal advice.