Scientists make 'revolutionary' breakthrough with cooking oil that could change future EVs forever: 'This work offers a promising route'

Battery recycling is taking an oily turn thanks to researchers at the United Kingdom's University of Leicester. 

That's because they have found that a mixture of cooking oil and water in a process called nanoemulsion helps reclaim costly electrode materials from black mass, the aptly named leavings after lithium batteries are shredded. The high-value materials include graphite, lithium, nickel, and cobalt, among others. 

With just a trace of cooking oil in H2O, the Leicester team may have figured out a more planet-friendly, less-costly way to reclaim the precious materials. Current methods typically require high heat or inefficient corrosive acids. The incineration technique generates heat-trapping air pollution.

Leicester's process takes only minutes at room temperature. The result could be a cheaper supply chain and less expensive batteries, electric vehicles, and other tech, all according to experts. 

"This work offers a promising route for short-loop recycling of lithium-ion batteries at scale," Professor Martin Freer said in a news release.

Typically, oil and water don't share space very well, but the experts found that using ultrasound creates small nanodroplets of oil that remain stable for weeks. The droplets can purify black mass. 

"The oil nanodroplets stick to the surface of the carbon, acting as a glue to bind … graphite particles together to form large oil-graphite conglomerates, which float on water, leaving the valuable … lithium metal oxides untouched. The oil-graphite conglomerate can simply be skimmed off leaving pure metal oxides," per the experts' description of the process. 

The crucial materials can be reused in new batteries, becoming an important part of the transition to a cleaner energy and transportation future. 

Recycling components can reduce invasive mining and polluting purification processes needed for new materials. Sustainability by numbers estimated that we will need tens of millions of tons of deposits by 2040 to power the clean energy transition. Even so, it's far less than the 16.5 billion tons of planet-warming fossil fuels hauled from Earth each year, per the report. 

The metals and minerals are key to expanding EV use and for energy storage systems that reduce planet-warming fumes, which the World Health Organization described as a health risk for nearly everyone on Earth. 

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It's a project on the docket at numerous labs. 

Mercedes-Benz recently opened a battery recycling plant in Germany. In the U.S., the Biden Administration pledged $62 million to recycling efforts, though the investment's likelihood of fulfilling its purpose is unclear under President Donald Trump's federal cutbacks and energy policies. 

Regardless, the global battery recycling market is projected by data collector Statista to grow from $4.29 billion in 2024 to $23.96 billion by 2033. 

That's in large part due to the 40 million EVs and 10 billion battery-powered devices being used worldwide, according to Leicester. The tech is crucial to a cleaner future. And a smart supply chain can make certain the switchover is as planet-friendly as possible. The Leicester project is being completed with help from the government's InnovateUK program called REBLEND. 

"This quick, simple, and inexpensive method could revolutionize how batteries are recycled at scale. We now hope to work with a variety of stakeholders to scale up this technology and create a circular economy for lithium-ion batteries," Leicester chemistry expert Jake Yang said in the release. 

It's still a good time to buy an EV stateside, as tax breaks of up to $7,500 for new or used EVs remain available. You can plan to save around $1,500 annually in gas/maintenance costs after parking your gas-guzzling car, as well.

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