Material and Energy Flows in the Production of Cathode and Anode Materials for Lithium Ion Batteries

Abstract

The Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions and Energy use in Transportation (GREET) model has been expanded to include four new cathode materials that can be used in the analysis of battery-powered vehicles: lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide (LiNi0.4Co0.2Mn0.4O2 [NMC]), lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4 [LFP]), lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2 [LCO]), and an advanced lithium cathode (0.5Li2MnO3∙0.5LiNi0.44Co0.25Mn0.31O2 [LMR-NMC]). In GREET, these cathode materials are incorporated into batteries with graphite anodes. In the case of the LMR-NMC cathode, the anode is either graphite or a graphite-silicon blend. Lithium metal is also an emerging anode material. This report documents the material and energy flows of producing each of these cathode and anode materials from raw material extraction through the preparation stage. For some cathode materials, we considered solid state and hydrothermal preparation methods. Further, we used Argonne National Laboratory’s Battery Performance and Cost (BatPaC) model to determine battery composition (e.g., masses of cathode, anode, electrolyte, housing materials) when different cathode materials were used in the battery. Our analysis concluded that cobalt- and nickel-containing compounds are the most energy intensive to produce.