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Battery chemistries are ever-evolving and becoming more complex over time. This is an inevitable development, as innovations are necessary to improve the performance of future batteries further. Radical shifts in the field could unleash significant economic potential for those who dare get involved early. 

Recycling processes must also evolve with the changing world, as new chemistries complicate the material feed. Often, extensive effort is required to produce commercial-grade products from complex raw materials, which is no different for battery recycling. From a closed-loop point of view, it is imperative to get ahead of the curve when it comes to changing feed compositions in battery recycling. 

Research efforts in this area catalyze the transition of the Finnish battery ecosystem to the next generation of battery materials. Essentially, the focus is on synthesizing cobalt-free precursors from recycled batteries, creating battery materials of the future, integrating their recycling into existing processes, and developing more accurate material testing methods. 

Synthesizing new products from recycled materials is tricky. Companies running recycling processes seldom have the privilege of knowing exactly what type of input they are receiving at any given time. Unlike in primary production, where concentrates are well-analyzed and blending can be used to mitigate fluctuations in the feed, recycled streams are more heterogeneous due to the vast number of different types of batteries in circulation, which complicates the production of pure precursor chemicals. 

To synthesize well-performing new batteries from recycled ones, ways to purify the recycled feed and the effect of impurities on the products must be studied. Under this topic, the research aims to answer these questions. Improving the recycling efficiency of under-recovered elements and developing new recycling mhethods are also in the scope of this work package. 

Battery recycling is not a purely standalone industry but a part of the broader chemical and metallurgical complex. Just like metallurgical processes benefit from being intertwined, integrating battery recycling with existing chemical processes presents synergistic opportunities. Sustainability and minimization of waste are essential topics when considering new processing routes, and comparably, the impact of introducing new raw materials to old processes must be considered beforehand. 

This area focuses on synergistic recycling, sustainability of battery materials processing, and improving material efficiency through better chemical circulation in the processes.