Project description
Turning spent batteries into clean fuel
To cut fossil fuels from heavy transport and make renewable energy storage more efficient, power-to-gas technologies are gaining ground. A key step is the methanation of CO2 to produce synthetic methane, but current catalysts are not up to industrial standards. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the SpentBatt4e-GAS project is creating high-performance catalysts from black mass, the material recovered from spent lithium-ion batteries. The project uses this waste directly, testing different battery chemistries and optimising reactions for maximum efficiency. With expected CO2 conversion rates of up to 90 %, the approach combines clean fuel production with battery circularity, offering a win-win path for sustainable transport and waste reuse.
Objective
To ensure the green transition, fossil fuels must be substituted, especially in the heavy transport sector. Meanwhile, power-to-gas technology is necessary to enable intermittent renewable energy storage using carbon dioxide (CO2) as feedstock to produce synthetic methane or e-gas. Despite the fact that thermal CO2 methanation is mature enough to be commercialized, designing catalysts that meet industrial requirements is still very challenging. This project mainly aims to develop catalysts from the material recovered from spent batteries. Current treatment methods for recycling cause a downgrade of the critical raw materials and additional CO2 emissions. We will study an innovative way of using the cathodic black mass obtained from the direct recycling of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) as a catalyst for CO2 methanation. Thus, this project will not only support the production of renewable fuels, but also valorize the material reuse of waste batteries. Using the synergy between the already mixed metallic materials, we can achieve an ambitious 80-90% CO2 conversion. As there are different battery chemistries (LCO, NCA, and NMC), we will study their suitability for the methanation process. After that, we will optimize the operation conditions for maximal CO2 conversion and methane selectivity using the Bayesian Optimization Structure Search methodology to enhance efficiency. We will also show the environmental footprint of the recycling process of spent LIBs by directly using cathodic black mass as a catalyst instead of using the hydrotreatment recycling process (using Life cycle assessment (LCA)). The supervisor's expertise in circularity for batteries design and LCA, combined with the researcher’s experience with the CO2 hydrogenation processes and catalyst synthesis, will enable the development of a highly efficient catalyst from spent batteries for e-gas production and promote a circular economy for closing the loop.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology environmental engineering waste management waste treatment processes recycling
- natural sciences chemical sciences catalysis
- natural sciences chemical sciences organic chemistry aliphatic compounds
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
02150 Espoo
Finland
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.