汽车锂电池材料供应链外文文献

The case for recycling Overview and challenges in the material supply chain for automotive li ion batteries Ahmad Mayyas Darlene Steward Margaret Mann National Renewable Energy Laboratory 15013 Denver West Parkway Golden CO 80401 United States a b s t r a c ta r t i c l ei n f o Article history Received 11 December 2018 Accepted 12 December 2018 Lithium ion batteries LIB continue to gain market share in response to the increasing demand for electric vehi cles consumerelectronics and energystorage The increased demandfor LIB has highlightedpotentialproblems in the supply chain of raw materials needed for their manufacture Some critical metals used in LIB namely lith ium cobalt and graphite are scarce are not currently mined in large quantities or are mined in only a few coun tries whose trade policies could limit availability and impact prices The environmental and social impacts of mining these materials have also drawn attention as production ramps up to meet the increased demand Closed loop systems with recycling at the end of life provide a pathway to lower environmental impacts and a source of high value materials that can be used in producing new batteries Because environmental regulations concerning end of life batteries are not fully developed or implemented most of these batteries currently end up in the landfi lls with a very small number of spent batteries sent to the existing recycling facilities However with proactive regulations an increasing supply of spent batteries and innovations in recycling technologies end of life batteries could supply a signifi cant fraction of the materials needed for manufacturing of new LIB This paper reviews the current state of the LIB manufacturing supply chain addresses some issues associated with battery end of life and sheds light on the importance of LIB recycling from the environmental and value chain perspectives We also discuss the expected benefi ts of recycling on the global LIB supply chain 2018 Published by Elsevier B V Keywords Cathode Electric vehicles End of life Li ion batteries Recycling 1 Introduction Lithium ionbatteries LIB haveemergedasthebatteryof choicefor electric vehicles because of their high energy and power density low weight and long life 1 2 However production of many of the raw materials needed for their manufacture is limited to a few geographical regions whose trade policies could limit availability and impact prices The increased demand represented by increasing use for utility energy storage and the widespread adoption of electric vehicles combined with limited supply could put upward pressure on prices for these ma terials and therefore stifl e markets Recycling is one potential strategy forincreasingsuppliesandmitigatingpricefl uctuationsincriticalmate rials for LIB However recycling will be undertaken in a given region only when thepriceof rawmaterials is equal to or greater than theeco nomically viable price for recycled materials If signifi cant new invest ment in recycling technology is needed potential recyclers must also weigh the long term outlook for raw material prices and consider the future size and stability of the reverse supply chain of spent batteries Therefore accurate predictions of virgin and recycled material supply and price trends i e a supply curve are critical for potential recyclers Accurate supply curves will also provide critical data to inform cost tar gets for battery recycling technology development This study focuses on the current supply and demand for LIB mate rials and briefl y addresses the technologies and prospects for recycling of LIB Thecurrent globallandscape forproduction andtradeforthepri mary LIB materials cobalt lithium nickel and graphite is presented in Section 2 and global LIB manufacturing capabilities are presented in Section 3 Section 4 briefl y presents the most common technologies available for LIB recycling and addresses current recycling efforts Value chain analysis for LIB made from virgin and recycled materials is discussed in Section 5 This paper addresses some challenges facing the LIB supply chain and discusses the impact of recycling as an economic and environmen tally favorable solution to overcome these challenges More specifi cally the objectives of this paper are To study the current supply chain of the automotive li ion batteries from raw materials to LIB pack production to highlight areas where recycling can help narrow the gap between supply and demand To examinecurrent recycling capacities in differentcountries to high light the regional economic potential of establishing and or expanding recycling capabilities To glean lessons learned from policies that have been implemented Sustainable Materials and Technologies 17 2018 e00087 Corresponding author E mail address ahmad mayyas nrel gov A Mayyas https doi org 10 1016 j susmat 2018 e00087 2214 9937 2018 Published by Elsevier B V Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Sustainable Materials and Technologies journal homepage around the world that promote recycling of the end of life batteries from consumer electronics and electric vehicles To study the value chain of the automotive LIB packs to assess the po tentialeconomicand environmentalimpact of usingrecycled cathode materials Table 1 lists the primary materials used in LIB their attributes and current efforts to improve performance and or cost Cobalt is used in the cathode active materials of the most common cathode chemistries currently being used in traction batteries for bat tery electric vehicles BEVs 2 3 NMC 333 is the most common cath ode material used in vehicles although other chemistries such as lithium nickel cobalt aluminium oxide NCA lithium manganese oxide LMO and lithium iron phosphate LFP are also used 4 8 The largest demand for cobalt in batteries is currently from consumer electronics which predominantly use lithium cobalt oxide LCO cath odechemistry 9 However thedemandforcathodematerials for vehi clebatteriesis expectedtocontinuetogrowrapidlyinthenext 12years 9 10 CobaltpricesontheLondonMetalsExchange1graduallyfellfrom about 40 000 to 23 000 USD per tonne between 2010 and late 2016 be fore steeply climbing to over 80 000 USD t in early 2018 Automakers and consumer electronics manufacturers have responded to the rapid increase in cobalt prices with efforts to secure longer term contracts with suppliers2and increased interest in recycling 3It is likely that the cobaltwillcontinuetobe usedinvehicleLIB buttheCocontentwill de crease as new battery chemistries are developed and commercialized Nickel is used in the cathode active material of NMC LIB and nickel metal hydride NiMH batteries used in hybrid electric vehicles 11 Nickel provides high energy power density in cathode materials and is cheaper than cobalt but may substitute Li sites blocking Li diffusion pathways 1 The nickel content of EV batteries is likely to increase in the future Nickel prices on the London Metals Exchange4fell from a high of about 29 000 USD t in early 2011 to 8800 USD t in early 2016 Prices have slowly risen since then to a current value of around 13 500 USD t Manganese is incorporated into LIB cathode s active material to im prove thermal stability and is lower cost than nickel and cobalt 1 However high Mn content batteries e g LiMnO2 LMO have rela tively low specifi c capacity mAh g and poor cycling performance in part because of Mn leaching during cycling 1 While manganese plays an important role in many LIB chemistries and is low cost it is not likely to replace other more expensive LIB materials Lithium is a primary constituent in rechargeable LIB for mobile de vices and electric vehicles and is used in the cathode and some electro lyte materials Lithium has the lowest reduction potential of any element giving it the highest possible cell potential It also is the third lightest element and has one of the smallest ionic radii of any single charged ion 1 These properties ensure that lithium will continue to play a critical role in batteries Lithium carbonate which is usually 99 5 Li2CO3makes up the bulk of the lithium sold for electric vehicles Lithium hydroxide LiOH H2O which is used in the nickel cobalt aluminium NCA batteriesproducedbyPanasonicforTesla iscurrently asmallerfractionofthemarket butitsmarketsharemayincreaseifbat tery manufacturers are successful in developing 8 1 1 nickel cobalt manganese batteries 5 6Lithium carbonate prices remained relatively stable between 4000 and 5000 per ton between 2009 and 2016 but have risen sharply since then to a price of around 14 000 per ton in May of 2017 5 Aluminium is a good electrical conductor which constitutes its primary function in LIB Extracting aluminium from its ores usually al uminiumsilicates isextremelyenergyintensive butoncemade itdoes not corrode and is readily recycled 12 Graphite which is a pure carbon compound is found naturally in many locations and can be made synthetically in the form of charcoal from wood and coke from coal 12 Carbon is used in metal smeltingandcarbonfi ber whichislightweightandstrong isusedtore inforcetennis rackets skis fi shingrods and aircraft materials Recently carbon nanotubes have become important in the electronics industry Graphite is used in the anodes of LIB 3 While various combinations of lithium and other materials including graphite and silicon are being investigated as anode materials 1 it is likely that graphite will continue to play a key role in LIB 2 Challenges in the material supply chain for LIB The British Royal Society of Chemistry RSC and the United States Geological Survey USGS among other organizations track world re serves and mining production which helps manufacturers analysts and decision makers understand the supply and risks associated with production of raw materials Mining of the raw materials for LIB is con centratedinafewcountries Fig 1 in2016 32countriesaccountedfor all global production of Li graphite Ni Mn and Co with 50 of produc tion originating in one or two countries for all but one element According to data from the USGS in 2016 123 000 t of cobalt were produced globally with over 50 coming from the Democratic Republic oftheCongo DRC Chinaaccountedfor65 ofthe1 2milliontonnesof natural graphite produced globally Lithium extraction was concen trated in Australia 41 and Chile 34 with global production Table 1 NMC 333ali ion battery materials function and recent research aimed at improving performance or reducing cost ElementRole In LIBWeight kg kWh b Function in batteries and current researchc CobaltCathode0 33Enhances structural stability Research has focused on reducing Co content NickelCathode0 33Increases power current and energy capacity lifespan and performance ManganeseCathode0 31Provides greater safety higher thermal runaway temperature but decreased cycle life AluminiumCathode and current collector 0 27 Low cost Improves specifi c energy when incorporated in cathode active material Also used as a current collector LithiumCathode and electrolyte 0 13Lithium has the lowest reduction potential of any element and is the third lightest making it nearly ideal for battery applications Lithium is unlikely to be replaced in future battery chemistries CopperCurrent collector0 62Copper foil is used as the current collector for anodes 3 GraphiteAnode1 65Abundant and low cost high electrical conductivity low delithiation potential vs high Li diffusivity a NMC 333 lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide LiNi1 3Co1 3Mn1 3O2 b Weight estimates based on NMC 333 cathode chemistry and 24 kWh battery system 1 from the DOE BatPaC model v3 1 18OCT2017 http www cse anl gov batpac c Attributes and current research information in this table are derived from 1 1 2 miners to secure cobalt supplies sources idUSKCN1G50M3 3 cobalt as prices surge ar BBJ1eeP 4 5 LME EV Battery Materials December 2017 6 further towards launch of lithium contract idUSKBN1K824I 2A Mayyas et al Sustainable Materials and Technologies 17 2018 e00087 totaling 35 000 t A total of 16 000 t of manganese were extracted globally primarily in South Africa 34 China 17 and Australia 16 Global nickel production totaled 2 2 million tonnes with the Philippines accounting for 22 while Canada Russia and Australia each accounted for 9 to 11 of the total Our estimates for material consumption in electric vehicles revealed that approximately 6 of cobalt produced in 2016 was used in BEV bat teries Table 2 b1 of the nickel and b 1 of manganese and approxi mately 8 of the lithium produced in 2016 was used in electric vehicle batteries Approximately 2 of the graphite produced in 2016 was used in the manufacturing of automotive LIB with most of the produc tion attributed to Chinese manufacturers Global reserves and produc tions of LIB raw materials are summarized in Table 2 The values presented in Table 2 provide an overview of global metal mining However as discussed in more depth below gross production of metals does not necessarily fully describe the market for LIB precur sors because of the high purity and specifi c chemistries often needed inbatteryapplications Whilelimiteddataisavailableontheglobalsup ply and demand of LIB precursors some market reports e g Darton Commodities Cobalt Institute and USGS annual reports reveal that most of these precursors are produced in very few countries including China Belgium United Kingdom Canada and United States 13 15 The supply dynamics for cobalt and to a lesser extent lithium are complicated by the fact that these metals are not typically the primary product of mining operations but are produced as a co product or byproduct Almost all cobalt is produced as a co product of nickel 50 or copper 35 mining 16 Nassar et al 16 estimated the extent to which the production of a variety of metals was econom ically dependent on mining of a host metal which they termed companionality In 2015 they estimated a companionality score of 85 for cobalt and 52 for lithium using a scale of 0 mining of the metal is wholly self suffi cient to 100 production is wholly depen dent on the mining of other metals Cobalt production from artisanal mines in the DRC is an exception to the usual dependence relation ship of cobalt to other metal mining Artisanal mining of cobalt metal had been estimated to make up between 60 and 90 of the DRC cobalt production in 2009 17 However by 2016 that number had dropped to 17 to 20 with the opening or ramp up of three large mechanized Cu Co mines there 17 The practical result of high companionability is that production of the companion metal is not directly responsive to demand for the metal which can result in shortages and extreme price fl uctuations 16 High companionality may have exacerbated supply shortfalls and recent price increases for cobalt and lithium Fig 1 World mining industry production for materials used in LIB in 2016 data source USGS 2016 13 Table 2 World reserve and production capacity in 2016 for elements used in LIB data source USGS 2016 13 ElementReserve tonnes World mine production tonnes Percentage used in electric vehicles xEV Percentage used in other applications Cobalt6 994 000123 190 b2 a6 2 93 6 Nickel78 360 0002 246 900 b3 0 3 99 7 Manganese686 000 00018 310 000 2 b1 N99 Aluminium2 400 00057 600 2 4 TBDTBD Lithium12 669 00035 300 b0 3 8 4 91 6 Graphite233 201 6001 183 000 0 5 b1 98 1 a Numbers in parentheses represent percentages of the declared reserve in 2016 3A Mayyas et al Sustainable Materials and Technologies 17 2018 e00087 The partialdependence of cobalt productionontheminingof nickel which is also a primary constituent of many LIBs further complicates the supply chain for both metals There are two primary types of nickel ores laterite and sulfi de Laterite ores are typically smelted to produce ferronickel and nickel pig iron NPI Smelting produces a lower grade nickel product Class 2 nickel of purity b99 8 that is primarily used for stainless steel and is not suitable for batteries Cobalt cannot easily be recovered from the smelting process 18 19 Nickel sulfate with a nickelpurityof 99 8 or greater Class 1 whichissuitable for batteries ismosteasilyproducedfromnickelsulfi deores Cobaltcanalsobeeasily recovered from nickel or copper sulfi de ores using fl otation followed by furtherpurifi cation 19 Lownickelpricesoverthepastseveraldecades have resulted in most mining companies focusing on production of Class 2 nickel and current market projections show Class 1 nickel pro duction ramping up only slightly in the near future 20 According to the USGS nickel sulfi de deposits make up only 40 of the available re serves and these are primarily found in established mining regions that have been depleted 20 The few possible sulfi de ore projects under consideration would take 6 to 7 years before the start of produc tion 18 A number of alternatives to purifi cation of high grade nickel and co balt from sulfi deores have beenexplored Cobalt canberecovered from thelimonitelayer of laterite ores usinghigh pressure leachingwithsul furic acid HPAL followed by further purifi cation 19 The HPAL pro cess is expensive and requires large quantities of sulfuric acid which could become a bottleneck for production 18 Class 1 nickel can also be produced from laterite ores using acid leaching For example an African nickel benefi ciation project is producing Class 1 nickel from a complex laterite ore 20 In some cases the waste tailings from the fl o tation method used to produce sulfi de ore concentrates can contain largequantitiesofcobaltthatcouldberecovered 19 Newlydiscovered sulfi de deposits on the Mohn s ridge in the western Norwegian sea could also contain cobalt and nickel 7While recycling of stainless steel is projected to increase in the coming years the nickel recovered from stainlesssteelrecyclingisnotsuitableforbatteries 20 However stain less steel recycling and the projected ramp up of Class 2 nickel produc tioncouldfreeupsomeClass1nickelsulfatethatwouldotherwisehave been used in