Post #1746023
2026-04-15 13:25 UTC
But I presume a new battery also only need 10% lithium?
Replies (2)
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@Vetis@sh.itjust.works 2026-04-15 13:39
Right, I don't understand their point. Recycling 90% of a battery is still 90% of a new battery.
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@sparkyshocks@lemmy.zip 2026-04-15 17:31
Exactly. The whole reason why lithium is such a good material for cathodes in car batteries is because of its very low mass per cation. So for a Lithium Iron Phosphate battery, the the cathode material is LiFePO4, where the Lithium itself is only 4.4% of the overall mass of the cathode. So it's important to remember that although the lithium constitutes a small amount of the total mass of a battery, that swings both ways so that not much is actually needed to build the next battery out of recycled materials.