{
  "node": {
    "id": "term:shredding",
    "type": "Term",
    "label": "Shredding",
    "properties": {
      "id": "shredding",
      "name": "Shredding",
      "aka": [
        "crushing",
        "comminution",
        "wet shredding",
        "inert shredding"
      ],
      "section": "topic-recycling",
      "definition": "Breaking cells or modules into fragments, under an inert gas, in a liquid or in a vacuum so that the released electrolyte and any remaining charge cannot ignite. Off-gas treatment captures the solvent vapour and the hydrogen fluoride it forms.",
      "related": [
        "mechanical-pretreatment",
        "deactivation",
        "electrolyte-recovery",
        "hydrofluoric-acid"
      ],
      "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/shredding/",
      "mentions": [
        "electrolyte",
        "off-gas"
      ]
    }
  },
  "edges": [
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      "id": "edge:4285",
      "source": "term:shredding",
      "target": "topic:topic-recycling",
      "type": "belongsTo",
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    {
      "id": "edge:4286",
      "source": "term:shredding",
      "target": "term:mechanical-pretreatment",
      "type": "relatedTo",
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        "sourceFile": "terms.json",
        "meaning": "Related context; not a causal claim"
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      "id": "edge:4287",
      "source": "term:shredding",
      "target": "term:deactivation",
      "type": "relatedTo",
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        "meaning": "Related context; not a causal claim"
      }
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      "id": "edge:4288",
      "source": "term:shredding",
      "target": "term:electrolyte-recovery",
      "type": "relatedTo",
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        "meaning": "Related context; not a causal claim"
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      "id": "edge:4289",
      "source": "term:shredding",
      "target": "term:hydrofluoric-acid",
      "type": "relatedTo",
      "properties": {
        "sourceFile": "terms.json",
        "meaning": "Related context; not a causal claim"
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    },
    {
      "id": "edge:mentions/shredding/electrolyte",
      "source": "term:shredding",
      "target": "term:electrolyte",
      "type": "mentions",
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      "id": "edge:mentions/shredding/off-gas",
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      "target": "term:off-gas",
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      "id": "edge:4292",
      "source": "term:shredding",
      "target": "reference:harper-recycling",
      "type": "cites",
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        "scope": "direct technical reference"
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  ],
  "neighbors": [
    {
      "id": "topic:topic-recycling",
      "type": "Topic",
      "label": "Recycling and end of life",
      "properties": {
        "id": "topic-recycling",
        "name": "Recycling and end of life",
        "lede": "What happens to a battery after its first life: reuse, and the recycling routes that recover its materials, step by step.",
        "context": "Distinguish recovered material from a qualified product.",
        "example": "High mass recovery alone does not establish battery-grade purity or refining energy demand.",
        "lesson_url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/fundamentals/cell-production/",
        "lesson_label": "Open process context"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "term:mechanical-pretreatment",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Mechanical pre-treatment",
      "properties": {
        "id": "mechanical-pretreatment",
        "name": "Mechanical pre-treatment",
        "aka": [
          "mechanical processing"
        ],
        "section": "topic-recycling",
        "definition": "The front end of most recycling plants: shredding cells or modules, drying off the electrolyte and separating the stream into casings, copper and aluminium foil, plastics and black mass. How cleanly this is done sets the purity, and the cost, of everything downstream.",
        "related": [
          "shredding",
          "sieving",
          "magnetic-separation",
          "eddy-current-separation",
          "black-mass",
          "hydrometallurgy"
        ],
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          "aluminium-foil",
          "electrolyte",
          "drying"
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    },
    {
      "id": "term:deactivation",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Deactivation",
      "properties": {
        "id": "deactivation",
        "name": "Deactivation",
        "aka": [
          "discharging for recycling",
          "salt-water discharge",
          "electrical discharge"
        ],
        "section": "topic-recycling",
        "definition": "Removing the stored energy before a battery is opened or shredded: electrically through a load, often recovering the energy; by immersion in a salt solution, which is simple but corrodes terminals and makes wastewater; or by cryogenic or thermal treatment. A shredder fed a charged battery is a fire risk.",
        "related": [
          "dismantling",
          "shredding",
          "thermal-runaway",
          "pyrolysis"
        ],
        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/deactivation/",
        "mentions": []
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "term:electrolyte-recovery",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Electrolyte recovery",
      "properties": {
        "id": "electrolyte-recovery",
        "name": "Electrolyte recovery",
        "aka": [
          "supercritical CO₂ extraction",
          "solvent recovery from cells"
        ],
        "section": "topic-recycling",
        "definition": "Recovering the organic solvents and lithium salt from spent cells instead of burning them, by evaporation and condensation or by extraction with liquid or supercritical carbon dioxide. Few plants do it yet; most electrolyte is lost to off-gas treatment.",
        "related": [
          "shredding",
          "carbonate-solvent",
          "lithium-salt",
          "pyrolysis"
        ],
        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/electrolyte-recovery/",
        "mentions": [
          "electrolyte",
          "off-gas"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "term:hydrofluoric-acid",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Hydrofluoric acid",
      "properties": {
        "id": "hydrofluoric-acid",
        "name": "Hydrofluoric acid",
        "abbr": "HF",
        "section": "topic-safety",
        "definition": "Formed when LiPF₆ electrolyte meets water, or when a fluorinated cell burns. Inside a cell traces of it attack the positive electrode and SEI; in a fire it is the most dangerous component of the vented gas.",
        "related": [
          "lithium-salt",
          "off-gas",
          "transition-metal-dissolution",
          "dry-room"
        ],
        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/hydrofluoric-acid/",
        "mentions": [
          "electrode",
          "positive-electrode",
          "electrolyte",
          "sei",
          "lipf6"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "term:electrolyte",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Electrolyte",
      "properties": {
        "id": "electrolyte",
        "name": "Electrolyte",
        "section": "topic-electrolytes",
        "definition": "The ion-conducting medium between the electrodes. In a liquid-electrolyte cell it fills the pores of both electrodes and the separator, so it is not a separate structural layer.",
        "related": [
          "lithium-salt",
          "carbonate-solvent",
          "electrolyte-additive",
          "ionic-conductivity",
          "solid-electrolyte",
          "ionic-liquid-electrolyte"
        ],
        "lesson": "fundamentals/cell-architecture/#electrolyte",
        "example": {
          "title": "Ions and electrons",
          "text": "Electrolyte carries ions between electrodes; the external circuit carries electrons. The two paths serve different roles."
        },
        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/electrolyte/",
        "mentions": [
          "separator"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "term:off-gas",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Off-gas",
      "properties": {
        "id": "off-gas",
        "name": "Off-gas",
        "aka": [
          "vent gas"
        ],
        "section": "topic-safety",
        "definition": "The mixture released when a cell vents: electrolyte vapour, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons, with hydrogen fluoride. It is flammable and toxic, and gas sensors detect it before smoke or heat in a storage container.",
        "related": [
          "venting",
          "hydrofluoric-acid",
          "gas-detection",
          "thermal-runaway"
        ],
        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/off-gas/",
        "mentions": [
          "electrolyte"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "reference:harper-recycling",
      "type": "Reference",
      "label": "Recycling lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles",
      "properties": {
        "title": "Recycling lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles",
        "publisher": "Nature",
        "url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1682-5",
        "type": "Review article",
        "scope": "Reuse, disassembly and mechanical, hydro-, pyro- and direct recycling routes.",
        "year": 2019,
        "authors": [
          "Gavin Harper et al."
        ],
        "accessed": "2026-10-27"
      }
    }
  ]
}