Pictured left to right: Dr. Yaocai Bai, Jakob Scroggins and Dr. Lu Yu
MSE junior, Jakob Scroggins, spent the summer participating in the Summer Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI) program run by the United States Department of Energy. He performed research with mentor Dr. Yaocai Bai and Dr. Lu Yu (UTK MSE alumna!) in the Battery Manufacturing Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory on a project titled, “A Water-Based Method for Direct Recycling of Lithium-Ion Battery Anode Scraps”. While there, he worked on the development of a novel, versatile and water-based method for delaminating anode films from copper current collectors that takes advantage of the chemical properties of a surfactant and a salt. As part of the team, he then demonstrated the reprocessing of the delaminated films into new anodes for physical, chemical and electrochemical characterization. The robust and industrially scalable method for anode-scrap recovery allows battery manufacturers to recycle quality-control-rejected anodes quickly and effectively, minimizing waste and maximizing profit. Of his experience, Jakob says, “During my SULI, I got the chance to participate in a novel and complete investigation—from materials selection to characterization and performance analysis.”
Congratulations, Jakob!