Novel microwave digestion for the analysis of materials from lithium battery production

Lithium-ion batteries are with us everywhere, every day, all the time. From our phones to our laptops to our watches and vehicles, these sources of energy have become an integral part of our lives. The demand for lithium and other metals, which are needed for the production of lithium batteries, continues to increase in the context of electromobility. Determining the purity of the anode and cathode materials, as well as the sources of lithium, is critical. CEM has developed digestion methods in the new Blade microwave digestion device, which provide a quick and easy digestion of these types of samples for subsequent elemental analysis. The high temperatures and extremely high microwave density that are achieved by the microwave digestion in the blade offer more aggressive conditions compared to conventional digestion technology. This leads to a more accurate trace element analysis, which is vital for this industry. Lithium ores, salts, cathode and anode materials and a recycled cathode material (Black Mass) are digested in the blade.