A new academic paper analysing the performance of Altilium’s recycled cathode active materials (CAM) has been published in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Journal of Materials Chemistry A, a leading scientific journal covering all fields of materials chemistry.

The peer-reviewed paper, produced in collaboration with Imperial College London, investigated the structure, morphology and electrochemical properties of NMC811 cathodes resynthesised from metal salts recovered from black mass through Altilium’s advanced hydrometallurgical recycling process.

Imperial’s analysis found that Altilium’s recycled CAM performs on par with commercially available mined materials. The resynthesised cathodes achieved battery-grade purity (99.6%) and exhibited comparable composition and crystal structure to commercial materials.

The research provides strong technical validation for the adoption of low-carbon, circular battery materials in next-generation EVs, proving recycled materials are a high-performing and viable alternative to mined metals.

Altilium’s EcoCathode™ process recovers over 95% of critical battery metals, including lithium, from end-of-life EV batteries and upcycles them into high-performance CAM. By refining these materials in the UK, Altilium is helping to reduce reliance on imported virgin metals and strengthen the UK’s battery supply chain, ensuring cell manufacturers and automotive OEMs have access to a domestic, low-carbon supply of critical minerals.

The process also enables UK OEMs to comply with EU Battery Regulations, which set mandated targets for minimum levels of recycled lithium, nickel and cobalt in new batteries from 2031.

The research was carried out through a collaboration with Professor Magdalena Titirici’s group at Imperial College London, with grant funding from Innovate UK as part of the Faraday Battery Challenge.

The full paper, “Recycling with Precision: Engineering Ni-Rich NMC Cathodes through Impurity Management”, is available to download here:

https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2026/ta/d5ta06740e