Battery design for service, neutralization, and economic recycling adds features to double lifetime, improve safety, and reduce the cost of ownership. Recycling and service are relatively unexplored pathways within the battery industry with opportunities for the application of materials science and engineering to improve their cost and environmental sustainability. Dr. Sloop will talk about a future oil-change service for batteries, end-of-life hazard neutralization, use of PFAS free binders in design for recycling, and the application of cathode healing™ direct recycling to support the low-cost, long-battery-lifetimes required for mass adoption of EVs.
Steve Sloop is the President and Founder of OnTo Technology. He received an BS in chemistry from Willamette University in 1987, taught high school chemistry for Salem-Keizer Schools until 1991, and received his PhD in Inorganic Chemistry from Oregon State University in 1996. He was the Assistant Visiting Professor of Chemistry at Willamette University from 1995-97; and a Postdoctoral Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab from 1998-2000. He founded OnTo Technology in 2001 and since then, the company has pioneered comprehensive methods to improve safety and efficiency in recycling lithium-ion batteries and their materials. These innovations include neutralizing batteries to eliminate hazards in transportation and storage; electrolyte extraction; electrode harvesting and separation; cathode healing™ direct recycling; and whole battery rejuvenation. The company holds 22+ patents in the field and performs contract R&D for private industry and the federal government. Dr. Sloop will discuss how these services enable the economic and environmental sustainability for batteries.