Upcycling of Li-Ion Battery Recycling Residues to Graphene Oxide: Life Cycle Hotspots and Production Scale Impacts
Gopa Nandikes, Lalit Goswami, Seungdae Oh, Pankaj Pathak
Abstract
The increasing production of Li-ion batteries (LIBs) for the green transition is underscored by the absence of feasible recycling methods for graphite, regardless of its criticality as a raw material. This study addresses the gap by using residual waste from spent LIBs recycling to synthesize graphite, which is then used as a precursor for graphene oxide (GO) synthesis. This circular approach offers environmental advantages over traditional methods that rely on natural (mined) or fossil-fuel-derived synthetic graphite. Despite the increasing industrial interest in GO, there remains a limited understanding of its production-related environmental impacts. Therefore, a life cycle assessment (LCA) is conducted using primary data sourced from laboratory experiments. Further, a prospective upscale LCA model is performed for a pilot (10 kg/batch) and hypothetical industrial scale (100 kg/batch) based on theoretical calculations and material balance. The results show a significant reduction in environmental impacts with increasing production scale. Sensitivity analysis further revealed that electricity use is the dominant factor influencing the environmental impact in laboratory-scale production, while chemical reagents become more significant contributors at larger scales. These findings highlight the importance of process optimization and the adoption of clean energy sources in GO manufacturing to minimize environmental impacts.