The sustainable extraction of lithium from alternative sources is an important contribution to future battery production. The pilot project attracted political interest in the research partners' work with visits from Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Minister President Winfried Kretschmann and Minister for the Environment, Climate Protection and the Energy Sector, Thekla Walker, among others. In addition, the Institute of Applied Geosciences (AGW) is now working on a battery recycling project together with the Institute of Mechanical Process Engineering and Mechanics (MVM) and the wbk Institute of Production Engineering, where it is contributing its expertise in the field of lithium extraction from process water. Prof. Kolb and his team have already successfully demonstrated this with the pilot plant in Bruchsal as part of the UnLimited project. In order to keep the research up to date in the future, a new mobile pilot plant is being set up at the AGW with the help of funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research amounting to almost one million euros. "To summarize, the project has made a difference on many levels and opened new doors. On the one hand, we are delighted that the topic is attracting widespread interest and significance. On the other hand, a doctorate was completed within the project, which led to three international publications. Two of our doctoral students already have a permanent job in industry. It's great to see well-trained staff back in industry," says Prof. Dr. Jochen Kolb, who heads the UnLimited project at KIT. In order to meet the requirements of lithium extraction for future battery production, the transfer of acquired expertise from research to industry is an important step.
