American Manganese Inc (CVE:AMY) (OTCMKTS:AMYZF) (FRA:2AM) has reported the production of NMC (lithium-nickel manganese-cobalt oxide) cathode precursor material directly from recycled NMC cathode waste using its RecycLiCo process.
The company said the RecycLiCo product shares the same high-quality technical specifications -- such as particle morphology, size, and distribution -- found in conventional lithium-ion battery cathode precursor materials.
Moreover, American Manganese said it intends to enhance the flexibility of the RecycLiCo process by adjusting the ratio of leached metals before the end-cathode precursor product is made.
READ: American Manganese sends RecycLiCo process sample to international cathode manufacturer for validation
By adjusting the ratio of the leached metals, RecycLiCo would gain the ability to recycle older cathode chemistries, such as NMC-111, and transform the end-product into modern cathode chemistries, such as NMC-622 or NMC-811, in one closed-loop process. The company will test this concept in its next production batch.
"We are very excited about the quality of the cathode precursor material that we can produce directly from recycled cathode waste, and we aim to further adapt the RecycLiCo process to the rapidly changing lithium-ion battery industry," said CEO Larry Reaugh in a statement.
"The feedstock material used in these recycling tests comes from lithium-ion battery production waste, which accounts for at least 10% of a Gigafactory's production capacity. Therefore, by integrating the RecycLiCo process alongside Gigafactories, we envision the recycling of battery production waste directly into cathode precursor material for use in battery re-manufacturing."
American Manganese has been working with research partner Kemetco Research Inc since 2016 on advancing the RecycLiCo process, which sees key metals such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel, recovered from scrap lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles (EVs).
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