Assessment and reuse of secondary batteries cells

Abstract

The popularity of portable electronic devices and the ever-growing production of the same have led to an increase in the use of rechargeable batteries. These are often discarded even before the end of their useful life. This, in turn, leads to great waste in material and natural resources and to contamination of the environment. The objective of this study was thus to develop a methodology to assess and reuse NiMH battery cells that have been disposed of before the end of their life cycle, when they can still be used. For such, the capacity of these cells, which were still in good operating conditions when the batteries were discarded, was assessed, and the percentage was estimated. The results reveal that at the end of the assessment process, a considerable number of these cells still had reuse potential, with approximately 37% of all discarded and tested cells being approved for reuse. The methodology introduced in this study showed it is possible to establish an environmentally correct alternative to reduce the amount of this sort of electronic trash.