Iondrive (ASX:ION) has reported that a study looking at its Deep-Eutectic Solvent (DES) battery recycling tech validates a commercial process using DES.

“DES is a mixture of two solvents that work together to dissolve specific metal oxides in spent batteries,” the company writes on its website.

“This method avoids the use of high temperatures and corrosive acids found in traditional recycling, making it a safer and more sustainable option.”

The study announced on Friday is effectively a component of the company’s looming pre-feasibility study (PFS), a process the company kicked off earlier this year.

Its authors have handed to Iondrive a pathway towards recycling 160K EV lithium-ion batteries per year using the DES process, in other terms, 100Ktpa.

According to the study, Iondrive’s DES tech could improve CapEx on a novel recycling plant using the tech compared to a “traditional” recycler to the tune of 36% less funds needed.

Further, by extracting black mass at the end of the recycling process, the company could then potentially on-sell lithium, cobalt, nickel and manganese materials. All in all, Iondrive reports its DES tech makes its recycling plant vision “significantly more profitable” than other facilities using other technology.

All in all: the company is going to continue developing itself and its operations around its DES recycling tech. The next big step?: a DES pilot plant.

“Our technology offers an environmentally sustainable solution, aligning with global demand for greener, closed-loop battery recycling practices,” Iondrive chief Ebbe Dommisse said.

“We are committed to advancing Iondrive’s DES technology as a competitive, responsible choice for critical mineral recovery in key markets and look forward to its transformative impact on the battery recycling industry.”

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