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Characterisation of fire-damaged batteries – implications for recycling

Wafaa Abdul Ameer Al-shatty Orcid Logo, Jenny Baker, Davide Deganello Orcid Logo, Rhys G. Charles Orcid Logo, Tom Dunlop Orcid Logo

Sustainability Science and Technology

Swansea University Authors: Davide Deganello Orcid Logo, Rhys G. Charles Orcid Logo, Tom Dunlop Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1088/2977-3504/ae7b3b

Abstract

As lithium-ion battery demand grows, so do fire safety challenges. Despite this, research on fire-damaged batteries remains limited. This study explores the distribution of valuable metals (such as Ni, Mn, Co, Cu) in two types of waste derived from lithium-ion nickel-manganese-cobalt oxide batteries...

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Published in: Sustainability Science and Technology
ISSN: 2977-3504
Published: IOP Publishing 2026
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa72121
Abstract: As lithium-ion battery demand grows, so do fire safety challenges. Despite this, research on fire-damaged batteries remains limited. This study explores the distribution of valuable metals (such as Ni, Mn, Co, Cu) in two types of waste derived from lithium-ion nickel-manganese-cobalt oxide batteries (NMC811): black mass (BM) and fire-damaged waste (FD). It emphasizes that cobalt, manganese, and nickel-rich NMC particles are predominantly found in smaller particle size fractions (<125 µm), where they can account for up to 85% of total metal content. Fire-damaged (FD) batteries show a similar, though less pronounced, trend. Evidence of structural degradation suggests that fire temperatures exceeded 500 °C; however, the presence of residual organic binders indicates that heat was unevenly distributed during the fire. FD batteries become friable and easily fragment into fine particles, which can hinder the effective separation of copper and aluminium current collectors, increasing their presence in processed material. The inclusion of FD batteries in standard BM processing introduces variability in output composition, potentially lowering the concentration of high-value NMC811 materials present. To maintain product quality and recycling output values, it is recommended that FD batteries are processed separately. Alternatively, particle size separation may allow for tailored outputs aligned with specific customer requirements.
Keywords: Fire-damaged batteries, thermal XRD, End-of-life batteries, NMC811, Li-ion batteries
College: Faculty of Science and Engineering
Funders: We gratefully acknowledge funding from the EPSRC ECR Fellowship NoRESt EP/S03711X/1 (W-AS, JB) and TReFCo EP/W019167/1 (W-AS, RC, DD, JB). The authors would like to thank the access to characterisation equipment to Swansea University Advanced Imaging of Materials (AIM) facility, which was funded in part by the EPSRC (EP/M028267/1) and the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government (80708).

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