ALEXANDRIA, Va., Oct. 21 -- United States Patent no. 12,444,780, issued on Oct. 14, was assigned to UT-BATTELLE LLC (Oak Ridge, Tenn.).
"Recovery of materials from spent batteries using a green solvent" was invented by Ilias Belharouak (Oak Ridge, Tenn.), Yaocai Bai (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) and Rachid Essehli (Oak Ridge, Tenn.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A method for recycling lithium-ion battery materials is provided. The method includes isolating a composite electrode that includes an electrode material adhered to a current collector. The isolated composite electrode is combined with a citrate-based solvent to form a mixture. The electrode material is delaminated from the current collector in ...