Scientists have found a way to take advantage of CO2 to recycle batteries for smartphones and electric vehicles

A new study shows that CO2 after being collected and stored can be used to extract useful metals, serving the recycling of batteries instead of burying them underground.

CO2 is a major cause of climate change, so scientists are constantly developing technologies to capture the CO2 emitted from power plants and other sources of emissions. However, most of the CO2 after being captured is usually buried underground or converted into fuel or electricity. The problem is that capturing and storing such CO2 is very expensive and wasteful.

Julien Leclaire, lead researcher at the University of Lyon, France, said there was too little choice for CO2 after being seized because no one wanted to pay them.

To make capturing CO2 more attractive, Leclaire’s team has found a way to use this gas to create important materials, serving the manufacture of batteries for use on smartphones, cars, etc.

Leclaire’s team collected CO2 from car exhaust, then cooled it and pumped it into a chemical mixture called polyamines. CO2 combines with the polyamines and creates many molecules of different shapes and sizes.

Lecraire found that this process can separate metal compounds. Because one metal will dissolve in the liquid while another will form a solid. In such a series of experiments, they successfully separated materials such as lanthanum, cobalt and nickel. All of these materials are used to make batteries on smartphones, computers and magnets.

If this process is further improved and replicated, it can increase the economic efficiency of capturing CO2, thereby protecting the environment and creating an abundant battery supply. In the past, the process of separating materials used to make batteries often used toxic chemicals such as acids. Therefore, if it can be replaced with CO2, it will minimize the impact on the environment.

Many researchers and technology companies are trying to convert CO2 into useful materials like plastics, which are often extracted from petroleum. But of course there are still scientific challenges that cannot find a solution overnight.

Refer to NewScientist