RENOVATE achieving another technical milestone with the validation of green PVDF recovery and reuse technologies. 

The RENOVATE consortium has reached a new milestone in developing circular and chemistry-neutral solutions for battery recycling. The achievement marks a breakthrough in the recovery of Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), a high-value binder essential for the structural integrity of battery electrodes. While PVDF is typically burnt through pyrolysis in traditional recycling, RENOVATE has successfully validated methods to recover it, preserving its technological value and supporting a zero-waste vision.

UNIPV and POLIMI, coordinated by Syensqo  partners, developed a range of diversified and sustainable processes for the separation and purification of PVDF from spent cathodes and black mass:

  • Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE): utilizing supercritical CO2, an eco-friendly and abundant fluid, the consortium demonstrated the ability to extract PVDF with high purity directly from battery waste.
  • Green Solvent Dissolution: by replacing toxic solvents with triethylphosphate (TEP, a greener alternative) a 50% recovery yield of PVDF/Carbon composites was achieved.
  • Soft-Hydrometallurgical CAM Leaching: using citric acid and H2O2 as green leaching agents for the CAM, the team achieved a 100% PVDF recovery yield as a composite PVDF/Carbon.
  • Filtration through silica: the high-quality PVDF/Carbon composites were successfully purified by filtration through a silica-packed column, achieving a 70% purification yield.
  • Mechanochemical Mineralization: for low-quality fractions that cannot be easily purified, a mechanochemical process was developed to convert organic fluorine into CaF2 (with yields up to 71%), providing a circular precursor for the synthesis of new PVDF.

Technical characterization through FTIR, DSC, and TGA confirmed that the recovered PVDF is of high quality, comparable to commercial references.

This success represents a  step forward for RENOVATE. By demonstrating that minor components like binders can be efficiently recovered and reintegrated into production, the consortium is directly addressing the requirements of the new EU Battery Regulation. This milestone brings Europe closer to a truly circular economy for batteries, ensuring that valuable resources are kept within the loop.