CMI Team member Idaho National Laboratory won three R&D 100 Awards in 2022, including one for EC-Leach, which was developed by CMI researchers at INL.
It’s another winning year as three Idaho National Laboratory technologies received 2022 R&D 100 Awards. The competition – now in its 60th year – celebrates research and development technologies from across the public and private sectors. Winning an award is a prestigious distinction for inventors.
Laboratories and companies from 12 countries submitted nominations in 2022, and a panel of more than 50 industry-leading experts ranked entries on technical significance, uniqueness and applicability across industry, government and academia. Typically, the U.S. Department of Energy’s national laboratories have dozens of finalists every year.
Including this year’s winners, INL has won more than 30 R&D 100 Awards since 2005. Five INL technologies were also named as R&D 100 finalists in 2022.
WINNING TECHNOLOGIES LED BY INL:
Electrochemical Leach (EC-Leach)
Description: EC-Leach provides a cost-effective, highly efficient, safe, carbon-free and remarkably simple process for solving one of our world’s biggest clean energy challenges: lithium-ion battery recycling. This technology unlocks the green energy potential of these batteries at the end of their lives by allowing extraction and recovery of critical materials. Although EC-Leach provides an answer to many complicated challenges, it is remarkable for its technological simplicity. It requires no expensive or hazardous materials, has a low operational cost, and is compatible with any lithium-ion battery chemistry. By facilitating battery recycling in a closed loop, EC-Leach enables a carbon-free transportation and manufacturing sector.
Researchers: Tedd Lister (co-principal investigator), Luis Diaz Aldana (co-principal investigator), John Klaehn, Joshua McNally, Meng Shi and Daniel Molina Montes de Oca.
Link to the full story: Idaho National Laboratory wins three R&D 100 Awards