Altilium has announced a major breakthrough in the development of the UK’s only domestic supply of sustainable, low-carbon battery materials, with test results confirming its recycled cathode active materials (CAM) are comparable to commercial materials. This positions recycled materials as a competitive alternative to mined sources.

Results from the electrochemical testing of cells produced from Altilium’s recycled CAM at its ACT1 facility in Devon have shown comparable rate and cycle performance with the commercially available CAM used in today’s high-nickel NMC 811 batteries.

The cycle cell capacity of Altilium’s recycled CAM reached 193 mAh.g⁻¹ in testing, against the 190-194 mAh.g⁻¹ range typical for commercial CAM. Battery cycle testing, a vital step in the design and validation phases, involves repeated charge and discharge cycles to confirm a material’s reliability and lifespan.

In addition, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed the structure of Altilium’s CAM remains indistinguishable from commercial variants. XRD is a non-destructive and versatile technique that can be used to monitor a wide range of parameters, including phase composition, crystallite size and orientation of a material.

These results highlight the capability of Altilium’s recycled CAM to deliver both quality and sustainability to the EV battery market.

Dr Christian Marston, co-founder and COO of Altilium, said: “With these results, Altilium has shown recycled battery metals can perform as well as virgin metals and that critical minerals are essentially the same, whether they come from a mine or an old EV battery.

“Our recycled CAM not only matches, but can even exceed the performance of traditional materials. We have shown there is no need to compromise on performance, with the additional sustainability benefits of using recycled materials.”

The CAM was produced as part of a collaborative research project, backed by the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC23). Altilium says it is the only company in the UK producing CAM from recycled materials for production and qualification of new EV batteries.

According to the APC, by 2035, the UK automotive industry will need an annual 153,000 t of CAM for the production of over one million EVs per year.