50 million -year -old bacteria can change the future of battery recycling

According to RCO News AgencyWhile the world is preparing to flood the end of the lithium batteries used in electric cars and electronic devices, recycling systems have been difficult to maintain the necessary speed, but this huge gap may be resolved in recovering batteries with pre -history creatures.

The current methods of recycling are often costly, energy and environmental, but a small startup in the UK believes that its solution may be in ancient nature engineers, bacteria that have been tens of millions of years.

Cell Cycle Startup has developed a new method called the LithiumcyCle that uses engineered microbes to break up batteries and recover vital minerals such as lithium, nickel and cobalt.

Recycling with bacteria

These bacteria, which have been shaped by metal structures for thousands of years, are now used to create a low -energy recycling process and low emissions of greenhouse gases. This approach can turn a major waste problem into a sustainable cycle.

“The idea of ​​this approach stemmed from the long -term use of bacteria in mining for stone breakdown and mineral extraction,” said Max Nagle, the director of the complex.

These small creatures have just been used to recover metals from crushed electronics, but no one had previously used them seriously to recycle battery.

“There is so much knowledge, expertise and use in other industries, and the batteries are now a great concern,” he said. Why has no one adapted this method for something that is fully man -made, such as the battery? Bacteria have a proven history in other areas and are able to recover any vital minerals you imagine. These bacteria have existed since the creation of human beings, they are 50 million years old and have shaped the beaches, islands, and the way of forming and producing metals.

Elegance -based thinking

This thought led to a flexible approach. While most battery recycling factories are designed for a specific type of battery and require large -scale investment in custom machinery, this new process only requires a bioreactor tank. If the demand increases, they do not need to be rebuilt and only need one larger tank.

Batteries contain fewer types of metals, so their recycling is easier than some microbial challenges. Currently, the United Kingdom has no battery purification capability, and most battery waste must be shipped out of the country for processing. This startup hopes to change the situation with its technology.

Pure and affordable approach

Perhaps the most important point of this approach is its cleanliness. The bacteria used in this approach grow at body temperature and do not require much energy. They can reproduce themselves, feed on carbon dioxide, and even return oxygen to the system. The process is so clean that, according to Nagel, it may not only neutralize carbon production, but also negatively produce it.

“We nurture the bacteria and when they reach a certain point, we produce them again,” he said. We do not lose them as a by -product of our recycling process, and any direct extrusion through bacteria.

The company’s approach inspired by nature can provide sustainability recycling in the battery industry by increasing regulatory pressures, increasing acceptance of electric cars and increasing accuracy of the vital mineral supply chain.

The end of the message