According to recent findings, researchers have experimented with a wide range of materials in an effort to improve the efficiency of EV batteries, their storage, and their recycling. A group from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras in India and Linnaeus University in Sweden devised one of the most recent innovations, which is based on urine—possibly the most surprising material so far. Anthropocene highlighted the new technique, which the scientists detailed in a report that was published in the scientific journal ACS Omega, as a way to recover important metals from lithium-ion batteries throughout the recycling process. It uses a liquid solvent made from acetic acid, the primary component of vinegar, and urine.
Believe it or not, urine offers a safer alternative for extracting valuable metals in battery recycling
According to the experts, it uses far less energy and innocuous chemicals than existing methods to recover an astounding 97% of cobalt from a battery. Ian Nicholls, a professor at Linnaeus University, stated in a press release that our approach has the potential to be successful for large-scale extraction due to its high energy efficacy and combination of easily accessible and generally innocuous compounds. We can repurpose a large amount of the cobalt that is now in use rather than mining it using more effective and sustainable technologies. Nonetheless, where the urine used in the experiment came from was not disclosed by the scientists.
With the growing popularity of electric vehicles, the batteries that power them have become a contentious topic. EV batteries have several drawbacks, even though they produce significantly less pollution than their conventional gas-powered equivalents. Lithium-ion batteries, the industry standard, are dependent on the extraction of elements like copper, cobalt, and lithium, which have a significant negative impact on the environment. Therefore, the development of effective methods for recycling these batteries is essential for both the EV sector and the environment. Although it is still in its infancy, the EV battery recycling sector is developing swiftly, and more scientific discoveries that simplify the procedure, like this one, are encouraging for its future.
Other benefits of human urine that could help millions
Diabetic urine has the potential to power portable medical gadgets due to its high urea content. However, scientists are unable to effectively use it to generate power due to its complicated makeup, which includes bigger molecules like glucose and leukocytes. Despite its complexity, Vera-Estrada et al. created a paper-based, microfluidic fuel cell that produces noticeably greater performance by using a zinc oxide/nickel (ZnO-Ni) catalyst to generate energy from diabetic urine. In spite of its other chemical components, the urea in diabetic urine was oxidized by the authors’ ZnO-Ni catalyst.
The greatest voltage, current, and power densities for the diabetic urine-powered fuel cell were 0.89 V, 1.18 mA cm⁻², and 0.13 mW cm⁻², respectively, at the catalyst’s ideal nickel content of 3%. In spite of its other chemical components, the urea in diabetic urine was oxidized by the authors’ ZnO-Ni catalyst. The greatest voltage, current, and power densities for the diabetic urine-powered fuel cell were 0.89 V, 1.18 mA cm⁻², and 0.13 mW cm⁻², respectively, at the catalyst’s ideal nickel content of 3%. The fuel cell was developed by the authors using carbon-paper-based substrates, with platinum/carbon serving as the cathode to oxidize urine urea and ZnO-Ni as the anode to reduce oxygen. They compared the fuel cell’s performance to fuel cells with non-diabetic urine at varying nickel concentrations using polarization and power density curves. Replicating the fuel cell with urine from individuals who do not have diabetes is one of the areas the team has identified for additional investigation.
