Sustainable Upcycling of Residual Graphite from Battery Recycling for Electrocatalysis and Energy Transition in Europe

Objective

The rapid expansion of electric mobility has led to an exponential rise in lithium-ion battery (LIB) production and large volumes of end-of-life LIB waste. In response, the European Commission, under the EU Green Deal (2023), has introduced new recycling policies with mandatory recovery of Critical Raw materials (CRM) including metals such as lithium, nickel, copper, and cobalt. This recycling strategy overlooks the major non-metallic fraction in graphite present in the hydrometallurgical leach residue and typically landfilled. SURGE utilizes this graphite-rich residue as an untapped resource for high value carbon materials for energy conversion applications. The project establishes a strategic pipeline for incorporating graphite recovery and fluoride mineralization steps into conventional hydrometallurgical recycling process to achieve EU’s CRM goals as well as mitigate fluoride contamination concern in wet metallurgy. SURGE will go beyond current recycling practices by upcycling the recovered graphite into high-performance, Platinum-free oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalysts for fuel cells and metal-air batteries. This approach directly supports circular economy principles, closing the loop of LIB recycling while reducing reliance on scarce and expensive platinum-group metals for energy conversion. The SURGE consortium brings together the MSCA fellow, Luleå University of Technology as the host institution under the supervision of Prof. Sadia Ilyas, with structured training at University of Lorraine (France). This collaborative framework will foster cross-disciplinary knowledge transfer in materials science, extractive metallurgy, electrocatalysis, circular economy principles and career development skills. Successful completion of project will position fellow as an independent scientist capable of driving high-impact projects that contribute to Europe’s green transition.