A European study on Critical Raw Materials for Strategic Technologies and Sectors in the European Union (EU) evaluates several metals used in batteries and lists lithium (Li), cobalt (Co), and natural graphite as potential critical materials (Huisman et al., 2020; European Commission 2020b).
The report, Commodities at a glance: Special issue on strategic battery raw materials, documents the growing importance of electric mobility and the main materials used to make rechargeable car batteries.
Table 9.1 Typical raw material requirements (Li, Co, Ni and Mn) for three battery cathodes in kg/kWh Batteries with lithium cobalt oxide (LCO) cathodes typically require approximately 0.11 kg/kWh of lithium and 0.96 kg/kWh of cobalt (Table 9.1).
From the results, it can be concluded that the abundant material scenario requires less material demand of battery raw materials. The demand for cobalt and nickel in the abundant material scenario is about half of the demand for the same raw materials in the critical material scenario.
Most existing LIBs use aluminum for the mixed-metal oxide cathode and copper for the graphite anode, with the exception of lithium titanate (Li4Ti5, LTO) which uses aluminum for both . The cathode materials are typically abbreviated to three letters, which then become the descriptors of the battery itself.
It is estimated that recycling can save up to 51% of the extracted raw materials, in addition to the reduction in the use of fossil fuels and nuclear energy in both the extraction and reduction processes . One benefit of a LIB compared to a primary battery is that they can be repurposed and given a second life.