US and Toyota researchers develop water-based binder to ease lithium-ion battery recycling

Researchers at UC San Diego and Toyota Research Institute of North America have developed a fluorine-free binder that uses water instead of toxic solvents in lithium-ion battery production. It lets electrode materials be recovered by simply soaking them in water, avoiding harsh chemicals or high-temperature treatment. Lab tests showed comparable initial performance and better capacity retention after hundreds to thousands of cycles.

• Binder combines polyacrylic acid and carboxymethyl cellulose crosslinked with citric acid
• Electrodes separate cleanly from metal foils by soaking in water
• Cells matched conventional performance and retained capacity longer over thousands of cycles
• Study published in Nature Communications; scale-up and commercialization planned