TU Wien researchers recycle nickel from batteries as nanocatalyst for CO2-to-methane

In Austria, battery waste is a serious environmental problem: it contains substances that pose a threat to both human health and ecosystems. At the same time, however, they also contain valuable materials such as nickel, which we need – for example, for the production of new batteries. Better recycling methods for batteries are therefore urgently required.

At TU Wien, it has now been possible to develop a process that can be used to recover nickel from spent nickel-metal hydride batteries. But that’s not all: from this battery waste and used aluminum foil, such as that used in the kitchen, it was possible to produce a nanocatalyst that converts CO2 into valuable methane. In this way, one can reduce the waste problem on the one hand and at the same time obtain a climate-neutral fuel.