Aepnus Tech Tackles Waste in EV Battery Production

Aepnus Technology, a company specializing in electrochemical solutions, is developing an electrolysis platform aimed at addressing one of the battery industry's most significant environmental challenges. The platform converts waste into essential chemicals, such as sodium hydroxide and sulfuric acid, both crucial for battery manufacturing.

The environmental impact of electric vehicle (EV) battery production has been a growing concern, especially due to the vast amounts of waste generated. Sodium sulfate, a byproduct of refining critical metals used in battery cathodes, poses a significant disposal challenge. According to the Argonne National Laboratory’s EverBatt model, for every 1,000 kg of battery materials processed, 800 kg of sodium sulfate waste is produced. As EV battery production scales up, responsibly disposing of this waste becomes increasingly difficult, exacerbating the environmental footprint of these supposedly "green" technologies.

Aepnus Technology, co-founded by University of California, Berkeley graduates Lukas Hackl and Bilen Akuzum, identified this issue during a 2020 tour of companies in California’s and Nevada’s upstream EV battery supply chains.

“We visited mining operations, battery recycling facilities, cathode active material producers, and more. We kept our ears open to where the problems were really coming from,” said Akuzum. Across the supply chain, a recurring challenge was managing sodium sulfate waste.

In response, Aepnus developed an electrolyzer—an arrangement of metal electrodes separated by membranes that converts sodium sulfate back into sulfuric acid and caustic soda using electricity. This process not only recycles waste but also produces chemicals as viable as those sourced through traditional methods.

“This is how we can take sodium sulfate and transform it back into the two chemical reagent workhorses of the battery industry,” Hackl explained. This approach reduces logistics costs and enables the production of battery processing chemicals on-site, potentially lowering overall production costs, depending on electricity prices.

The company’s technology has significant implications for the EV battery supply chain. By eliminating the waste stream, companies can speed up time-to-market for batteries, avoid the need for waste disposal permits, and create a closed-loop chemical supply chain. Aepnus Technology’s pilot system, commissioned at the start of 2024, has already attracted the attention of an unspecified customer. However, the initial output is limited to two tons per year—a small fraction of the tens of thousands of tons of sodium sulfate produced by a single battery plant.

Looking ahead, Aepnus plans to expand its technology platform to produce various other commodity chemicals, with a goal of mitigating 3 gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The company’s innovative electrolysis approach, which is 50% more energy-efficient than traditional methods and does not require expensive components made from rare earth elements, positions it as a leader in the effort to decarbonize the battery supply chain.