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Quantifying the environmental impact of a Li-rich high-capacity cathode material in electric vehicles via life cycle assessment

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Abstract

A promising Li-rich high-capacity cathode material (xLi2MnO3·(1-x)LiMn0.5Ni0.5O2) has received much attention with regard to improving the performance of lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles. This study presents an environmental impact evaluation of a lithium-ion battery with Li-rich materials used in an electric vehicle throughout the life cycle of the battery. A comparison between this cathode material and a Li-ion cathode material containing cobalt was compiled in this study. The battery use stage was found to play a large role in the total environmental impact and high greenhouse gas emissions. During battery production, cathode material manufacturing has the highest environmental impact due to its complex processing and variety of raw materials. Compared to the cathode with cobalt, the Li-rich material generates fewer impacts in terms of human health and ecosystem quality. Through the life cycle assessment (LCA) results and sensitivity analysis, we found that the electricity mix and energy efficiency significantly influence the environmental impacts of both battery production and battery use. This paper also provides a detailed life cycle inventory, including firsthand data on lithium-ion batteries with Li-rich cathode materials.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express appreciation to the following contributors: (1) the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51474033 and No. 41301636) and (2) the National Key Technology Research and Development Program of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (No. 2012BAD15B05). Thanks are also extended to Ph.D. Weikang Li for his help in the electrochemical performance analysis of the Li-rich cathode materials.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China

    Yuqi Wang, Yajuan Yu, Bo Chen & Ying Yao

  2. College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China

    Kai Huang

  3. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China

    Wensheng Deng

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  1. Yuqi Wang
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  2. Yajuan Yu
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Correspondence to Yajuan Yu.

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Wang, Y., Yu, Y., Huang, K. et al. Quantifying the environmental impact of a Li-rich high-capacity cathode material in electric vehicles via life cycle assessment. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24, 1251–1260 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-7849-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-7849-9

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