This 2020 summer, two Environmental Engineering Ph.D. students (Qingquan Ma and Fangzhou Liu) and two Chemical Engineering master students (Vikas Patchamatla and Alexander Guillen) are collaborating to investigate the potential pollutants released from commercial lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) in soil, streams and landfill leachate. Their research is under funding support from New Jersey Water Resources Research Institute (NJWRRI) that is awarded to Dr. Wen Zhang's group at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). The rationale is that due to the increasing use of LIBs in commercial products such as electronics and electric vehicles, which inevitably enter the environment unintentionally. Suspected pollutants, cobalt (Co), lithium (Li), organic binders such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and electrolytes (Lithium hexafluorophosphate or LiPF6) may release into the environmental media. This information will be important for establishing relevant regulations, environmental protection laws, and public awareness on LIB disposal practices to minimize potential environmental and human risks.
Wen Zhang, Ph.D., P.E., BCEE
Principal Investigator
Professor
Phone: (973) 596-5520
Fax: (973) 596-5790
Email: wen.zhang@njit.edu
Office Location: Colton Hall 211
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