Analytical solutions for battery manufacturing and recycling: Our top 2024 highlights

por Umesh Tiwari, Friday, 20th December 2024

At Malvern Panalytical, we strive to support those at the forefront of battery manufacturing, research, and recycling—and 2024 was no different. We undertook many productive partnerships, published resources on a variety of topics, from analysis automation to black mass recovery, and launched new, cutting-edge instruments.

We’ve gathered our best resources about batteries and energy in one place

Malvern Panalytical offers a full portfolio of analytical solutions for a broad range of applications, so if you’re specifically interested in battery analysis, the new battery and energy microsite is here to help you find what’s relevant to you!

Apart from thje introductory segment video and the battery solutions brochure you can also take a deeper dive into the topics such as particle size and shape, online process control solutions, crystalline defects, in-operando XRD, and battery recycling.

Our solutions for battery research, manufacturing and recycling

A good understanding of the challenges faced in the manufacturing of cathode precursors and active materials, anode materials, battery recycling and crystallographic defects developed during cycling, is important for consistent battery manufacturing quality. Equaly important is the quality of analytical instruments employed to control the critical parameters governing the quality. On this webpage, you can find the instrument that best fits your can fit seamlessly into your workflows.

Not only do we offer solutions catering to everything from particle size and shape measurements to crystal phase and elemental composition analysis for research and QC, but we also offer online process control solutions for each analysis type. With Insitec, you can automate your particle size distributions in real time within the process line itself. With the Epsilon Xflow, you can measure elemental composition in real time, a key analysis for both battery manufacturing and recycling.

Solve battery recycling sustainability issues with CNA Pentos online elemental analysis

The secret to optimizing battery recycling is to identify the elemental composition of the “black mass” extracted by crushing EV batteries, as accurately as possible. The more accurate the analysis, the more fine-tuned and optimized the various steps to recover materials like nickel, cobalt, manganese, aluminum, and copper will be. A range of analytical solutions can help you in efficient exrtaction of metals from black mass.

Analysis of black mass itself can also be done on the feeder belt itself using our CNA Pentos. Equipped with the unique D-T PFTNA electric neutron generator, the CNA Pentos is unrivaled when it comes to high-throughput, high-accuracy, real-time, and cost-effective elemental analysis.

Supporting energy storage and conversion research

Imagine an electric car that charges while you drive – your range would be considerably higher than what any fossil fuel-reliant vehicle can achieve.

The challenge is that the batteries would need to recharge while they’re in operation, and Pittsburgh’s Kumta Lab aims to solve it. With the Empyrean X-ray diffractometer, Kumta Lab looks inside energy storage and conversion systems while they operate to find ways to enable this simultaneous energy conversion, charging, and discharging.

Read the blog

Discover the Mastersizer 3000+: The smartest way to measure particle size

The Mastersizer 3000+ is designed to provide both expert and novice users with new particle sizing possibilities:

Thanks to the Size Sure measurement mode, you can ensure coarse particles in electrode slurries are detected without fault.
Data Quality Guidance can flag any data-related issues and advise intelligently on how to fix the problem, allowing operators to obtain reliable results with minimal training – a key feature for a busy battery production plant!
Training is also made easier thanks to SOP Architect, which generates standard operating procedures that can be used even by users who are unfamiliar with the software.

As a result, the Mastersizer 3000+ is a powerful addition to your team, able to fit into your workflows seamlessly to help you optimize your processes.

Zetium WDXRF vs. Epsilon 4 EDXRF: Which is best for NMC cathode and precursor materials analysis?

X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is a practical solution for the process and quality control of battery cathode and precursor production in battery recycling, being faster, simpler, and more economical than traditional techniques like inductively coupled plasma (ICP) spectroscopy.

In these application notes, we tested the Zetium, which uses wavelength-dispersive XRF (WDXRF), and the Epsilon 4, which uses energy-dispersive XRF (EDXRF). Here’s what we found:

Zetium WDXRF is the choice when low z-element (like F) analysis, and high throughput are critical, especially for R&D or quality control in battery cathode development.
Epsilon 4 EDXRF is the choice for routine and cost-effective analysis in production or quality control environments.

Looking forward: Keep up to date in 2025!

We’re going to continue sharing resources and insights with researchers and manufacturers in the advanced materials industry through our LinkedIn page and newsletter. We’re also looking forward to next year’s battery edition of Future Days – a live studio event where we gather industry experts to discuss the latest trends and analytical innovations!

If you have any further questions about the instruments and topics discussed in this blog, reach out to our experts!

Further reading

Talk to our experts