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Research Papers

Research Papers

To Cooperate or Not: Evaluating process innovation strategies in battery recycling and product innovation, International Journal of Production Economics, Vol 283, May 2025, 109559, Qian, Z, Ignatius, J, Chai, J, Mohan Thazhathu Valiyaveettil, K.

Geopolitics of Access to Critical Minerals Necessary to Support Energy Transition. (2025). Global Energy Law and Sustainability, 163-181, Ahuja, J., Lee, R., & Cavoski, A.

Ecological impact of vehicles: A comparative study within the Czech Republic and other Visegrad 4 countries, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vl 209, March 2025. 115059. Jaššo, K., Mačák, M., Šedinam, M., Máca, J., Harper, G.,and Kazda, T.

2024

Overcoming passivation through improved mass transport in dense ionic fluids, (2024). Faraday Discussions, Volume 253,

A toolbox for improved recycling of critical metals and materials in low-carbon technologies, RSC Sustainability, 2024, 2, 320. Zante G, Elgar CE, Hartley JM, Mukherjee, R, Kettle, J, Horsfall, LE, Walton, A, Harper, GDJ, Abbott, AP.  https://doi.org/10.1039/D3SU00390F

Using ultrasound to increase copper and nickel dissolution and prevent passivation using concentrated ionic fluid. (Feb 2024). Electrochimica Acta, Volume 476, Elgar, CE., Ravenhill, S., Hunt, P., Jacobson, B., Feeney, A., Prentice, P., Ryder, KS., Abbott, AP. doi: 10.1016/j.electacta.2023.143707.

Mapping the flows and stocks of permanent rare earth elements for powering a circular economy in the UK, (June 2024), Sustainable Production and Consumption, Volume 47, pages 37-46, Hsu, WT., Petavratzi, E., Zils, M., Einarsson, S., Morasae, EK., Lysaght, O., Hopkinson, P. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2024.03.027

Comparison of life cycle assessment of different recycling methods for decommissioned lithium iron phosphate batteries. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments 2024;68:103871. Zhang, G., Shi, M., Yang, H., Hu, X., Yan, X. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2024.10387.,1

Life cycle assessment of methods for recyling retired ternary lithium batteries (June 2024), Journal of Energy Storage, Vol 89, Zhang G, Shi M, Hu X, Yang H, Yan X. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2024.11 1815

Steering through the storm: Environmental uncertainty and delivery performance, UK, 17 September 2024, Ignatius, J., Li, R., Yin, Y., Jia, K.

Optimizing Resource Management for Critical Raw Materials: A Case Study of the Application of UNRMS with Cornwall Regional Government, UK, 5 Apr 2024, Marquis, E., Wall, F., Cudmore, N., Hudson-Edwards, K.

Just Energy Transition and the planning and Permitting of Critical Mineral Extraction. Journal of Planning & Environment Law, vol. no. 1, pp. 3-19, 2024. Cavoski, A., Ahuja, J., Lee, RG.

Life cycle assessment of secondary use and physical recycling of lithium-ion batteries retired from electric vehicles in China, 15 April 2024, Waste Management, Vol 178, Yang, H., Hu, X., Zhang, G., Dou, B., Cui, G., Yang, Q., Yan, X.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2024.02.034

Lithium-ion battery second life: pathways, challenges and outlook. Frontiers in Chemistry12, Article 1358417, April 2024. Patel, A. N., Lander, L., Ahuja, J., Bulman, J., Lum, J. K. H., Pople, J. O. D., Hales, A., Patel, Y., & Edge, J. S. https://doi.org/10.3389/fchem.2024.1358417.

2024 roadmap for sustainable batteries. Journal of Physics: Energy, 6(4), Article 041502, 2024. Titirici, M., Johansson, P., Crespo Ribadeneyra, M., Au, H., Innocenti, A., Passerini, S., Petavratzi, E., Lusty, P., Tidblad, A. A., Naylor, A. J., Younesi, R., Chart, Y. A., Aspinall, J., Pasta, M., Orive, J., Babulal, L. M., Reynaud, M., Latham, K. G., Hosaka, T., … Antuñano, N. https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7655/ad6bc0

2023

Estimation of critical metal consumption in household electrical and electronic equipment in the UK, 2011 – 2020 (2023) Resources, Conservation & Recycling 197, 107084. Hu, X.,Yan, X.

Targeted recovery of metals from Thermoelectric Generators (TEGs) using chloride brines and ultrasound. (2023) RSC Sustainability, 2023, 1, 1025-1034. Zante, G., Daskalopoulou, E., Elgar, CE., Marin Rivera, R., Hartley, J., Simpson, K., Tuley, R., Kettle, J. and Abbott, AP. https://doi.org/10.1039/d3su00087g

Designing lithium-ion batteries for recycle: The role of adhesives Next Energy, 100023, 1, 2023,​ Scott S, Islam Z, Allen J, Yingnakorn T, Alflakian A, Hathaway J, Rastegarpanah A, Harper GDJ, Kendrick E, Anderson PA, Edge J, Lander L, Abbott AP. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nxener.2023.100023

Anion effect on the redox properties of copper ions in ionic liquids and deep eutectic solvents (2023) Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2023,25, 4854-4861. Daskalopoulou, E., Hartley, JM., Marin Rivera, R., Zante, G. and Abbott, AP. https://doi.org/10.1039/d2cp04389k

A novel method for extracting metals from asteroids using non-aqueous deep eutectic solvents (2023) Scientific Reports 2023. 13, 16960. Rivera, RM., Bird, P., Jenkin, GRT., Abbott, AP. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-44152-0

Concentrated Ionic Fluids: Is There a Difference Between Chloride‐Based Brines and Deep Eutectic Solvents? (2023) Angewandte Chemie e202311140. Zante, G, Elgar, CE, George, K, Abbott, AP, Hartley, JM. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202311140

Roadmap for a sustainable circular economy in lithium-ion and future battery technologies. (2023) Journal of Physics Energy 5 021501. Harper, GDJ et al.  DOI 10.1088/2515-7655/acaa57

Securing technology critical materials for Britain – the legal and regulatory conundrum. Environmental Law Review25(4), 311 – 325, 2023. Cavoski, A., Ahuja, J., Harper, G., & Peck, D.  https://doi.org/10.1177/14614529231211746

Upcycle for enhanced performance. Nature Sustainability6(7), 725-726, 2023. Harper, GDJ. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-023-01090-z

Disused coal tip management in Wales: environmental regulation under climate change. Environmental Law Review 25, 2, p. 135-153 19 p, (2023) (E-pub ahead of print). Lee, RG. 

Trade in critical minerals and fragility of UK net zero carbon targets. elaw, (2023). Ahuja, J., Cavoski, A., & Lee, RG.

Design principles for LiFePO4 electrodes with improved recyclability. Green Chemistry, 9959-9968. Advance online publication, 2023. Yang, L., Gastol, D., & Kendrick, E. https://doi.org/10.1039/d3gc03970f

Local Content Requirements and the Green Economy. LexisNexis, 21.06.23. Ahuja J, Cavoski A, Lee RG, https://plus.lexis.com/api/permalink/51a0c194-e7da-42a8-82ed-f1d3f987428e/?context=1001073

2022

Decarbonising the automotive sector: a primary raw material perspective on targets and timescales (2022). Miner Econ. Petavratzi, E., Gunn, G. doi: 10.1007/s13563-022-00334-2

Building energy retrofit-as-a-service: a Total Value of Ownership assessment methodology to support whole life-cycle building circularity and decarbonisation. Construction Management and Economics Volume 40, 2022 – Issue 9 (2022). Azcarate-Aguerre JF, Conci M, Zils M, Hopkinson P, Klein T. doi: 10.1080/01446193.2022.2094434

Roadmap for a sustainable circular economy in lithium-ion and future battery technologies: legal and regulatory issues’ (2022). Journal of Physics Energy Ahuja J, Cavoski A, Lee R.

Deep Eutectic Solvents and their application in electrochemistry (2022) Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry, 2022, 100649, Journal. Abbot AP et al. doi: 10.1016/j.cogsc.2022.100649

Tailoring lixiviant properties to optimise selectivity in E-waste recycling, RSC Sustain., 2023,1, 107-116​, Hartley JM, Scott S, Rivera RM, Hunt P, Lucio AJ, Bird P, Harris R, Jenkin GRT and Abbott AP. https://doi.org/10.1039/d2su00038e

The role of industrial actors in the circular economy for critical raw materials: a framework with case studies across a range of industries. (2022). Mineral Economics . Cimprich, A., Young, SB., Schrijvers, D., Ku, AY., Hagelüken, C., Christmann, P., Eggert, R., Habib, K., Hirohata, A., Hurd, AJ., Lee, M-A., Peck, D., Petavratzi, E., Espinoza, LAT., Wäger, P., & Hool, P. doi: 10.1007/s13563-022-00304-8

Calcium chloride-based systems for metal electrodeposition (2022). Electrochimica Acta. Hartley J, Allen J, Meierl J, Schmidt A, Krossing I, Abbott AP. doi: 10.1016/j.electacta.2021.139560

Catalytic dissolution of metals from printed circuit board using a calcium chloride-based deep eutectic solvent. (2022). Green Chemistry. Marin Rivera R, Zante G, Hartley J, Ryder K, Abbott AP. doi: 10.1039/d1gc04694b

Efficient recycling of metals from solar cells using catalytic etchants, Journal of Cleaner Production, 2022, Volume 370, 133552.​ Zante G, Rivera RM, Hartley JM, Abbott AP. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.133552

Debondable adhesives and their use in recycling. (2022). Green Chemistry, (1). Mulcahy K, Kilpatrick A, Harper G, Walton A, Abbott A. doi: 10.1039/d1gc03306a

The Sustainable Materials Roadmap. (2022). Journal of Physics: Material. Titirici, M-M, Baird, S., Sparks, T., Yang, SM., Brandt-Talbot, A., Hosseinaei, O., Harper, DP., Parker, R., Vignolini, S., Berglund, L., Y Li, H-L Gao, L-B Mao, S Yu, N Díez, G Alvarez.ferrero, M S Solis, P Szilagyi, C Stubbs, J Worch, Y Huang, C Luscombe, Lee, K-Y., Luo, H, Platts, MJ, Tiwari, D, Kovalevskiy, D, Fermin, DJ, Au, H, Alptekin, H, Ribadeneyra, MC, Ting, VP, Fellinger, T-P, Barrio, J, Westhead, O, Roy, C, Stephens, IEL, Nicolae, SA, Sarma, SC, Oates, RP, Wang, C-G, Li, Z, Loh, XJL, Myers, RJ, Heeren, N, Grégoire, A, Périssé, C, Zhao, X, Vodovotz, Y, Earley, B, Finnveden, G, Björklund, A, Harper GDJ, Walton A and Anderson, PA. doi: 10.1088/2515-7639/ac4ee5

2021

Securing technology-critical metals for Britain. University of Birmingham, (2021). Walton, A., Anderson, P., Harper, G., Mann, V., Beddington, J., Abbott, A., Bloodworth, A., OudeNijeweme, D., Schofield, E., Wall, F., Glover, N., Chaddock, R., Gross, R., Lee, R., Grimes, R., Lewis, R., Gibson, V., McGuiness, P. (Ed.), & Ogrin, R. (Ed.)  https://doi.org/10.25500/epapers.bham.00003450

The geopolitics of cobalt. American AffairsV(4), 62–79, 2021. https://americanaffairsjournal.org/2021/11/the-geopolitics-of-cobalt/ Harper, G.

Steering extended producer responsibility for electric vehicle batteries. (2021) Environmental Law Review, (2). Dawson L, Ahuja J, Lee R. doi: 10.1177/14614529211006069

Global implications of the EU battery regulation. (2021) Science, (6553), Melin H, Rajaeifar M, Ku A, Kendall A, Harper G, Heidrich O. doi: 10.1126/science.abh1416

Policy Papers

Policy Papers

‘The EU Critical Raw Materials Act: sourcing, streamlining, circularity and sustainability’, (2024) 28(6) Environmental Liability 239 -248, Gailitis, E.,Khalfi, Y., Kowalczyk, O., Siddiq, H. and Lee, RG, ‘Shared with thanks to Lawtext’

Regulatory Study Findings: main themes from qualitative analysis of interview data (2023) Cavoski, A., Ahjua, J. and Lee, RG.

Review of UK Critical Minerals Strategy. (2022) Lee, RG and Lexis-Nexis

Court supervision of air pollution safeguards (2022) p 22 Cavoski, A and Lee, RG.

Transition to green ammonia: imperative for climate change goals (2022) p 39 Ahuja, J and M Ravi

South West England’s Technology Metal Resources: Regional Economic Development and National Security of Supply (2022) Wall, F., Marquis, E., Hudson-Edwards, K., Cavoski, A., Lee, RG and Ahuja, J.

Policy Responses

Evidence presented on the End of Life for Electric Vehicles to the UK House of Lords Environment & Climate Change Committee – Oct 2023

Met4Tech joint response to Department for Business and Trades Call for Evidence on the UK Battery Strategy – Sept 2023

Response to questions by The Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee regarding the new Circular Economy Scotland Bill – August 2023

Met4Tech Joint Comments to Environment Agency – Call for Evidence EV Batteries Resource Framework April-June 2022

Met4Tech Joint Comments to UK Foreign Affairs Committee – Feb 2023

Met4Tech Joint Comments to BEIS Net Zero Consultation – Oct 2022

Recommendations to BEIS on Mineral Exploration Rights – July 2022

Policy papers briefing notes provided into UK Critical Minerals Strategy – June 2022

Met4Tech Joint Comments to BEIS Advanced Materials Call – March 2022

UK Parliament POST brief on Mining and the Sustainability of Metals – Feb 2022

Note for Defra about the opportunities for developing the former UK mining sites – Feb 2022

NICER Programme – Defra 2050 Timeline Exercise – Nov 2021

Extent to which WTO rules impact upon Critical Materials’ security; and types of Policy Interventions by national governments within context of World Trade Law – Oct 2021

Safety of Second Life Batteries in Domestic Battery Energy Storage Systems – Oct 2021

House of Lords Science and Technology Committee Inquiry on ‘Role of batteries and fuel cells in achieving Net Zero’ – July 2021

Met4Tech Joint Comments to Defra Waste Consultation – June 2021

1 Policy Commission Report on Securing Technology-Critical Metals for Britain – April 2021

Other

Other

Ensuring a Circular Economy Roadmap for technology metals (2022) The Innovation Platform, Issue 12. pp 136- 137 Pettit C., Wall F., Petavratzi E., Cavoski A., and Lee R.

The Circular Economy: A View from the Front. (2022) Wall F. et al. ​

The Trans-shipment of Lithium-ion Batteries in Electric Vehicles Under the Basel Convention (2020) Environmental Law and Management Vol 32​. A Bauckham and E Beardsley (under the supervision of R Lee and J Ahuja

Net-zero Solutions and Research Priorities in the 2020s (2021)

Ainalis, Daniel and Bardhan, Ronita and Bell, Keith and Cebon, David and Czerniak, Mike and Farmer, J. Doyne and Fitzgerland, Shaun and Galkowski, Krzysztof and Grimshaw, Samuel and Harper, Gavin and Hunt, Hugh and Jennings, Neil and Keshav, Srinivasan and Mackie, Erik and Maroto-Valer, Mercedes and Michalopoulou, Eleni and Reay, David and Seddon, Nathalie and Smith, Stephen M. and Smith, Tristan and Simpson, Kate and Stranks, Samuel D. and Tennyson, Elizabeth M. and Uekert, Taylor and Vera-Morales, Maria and Woodcock, James

Addressing the Climate Challenge (2021) 

Acton, Joe ; Anderson, Paul ; Andres, Lauren ; Angus, Michael ; Amor, Peter ; Arrowsmith, Jane (Editor) ; Asmelash, Henok ; Bartington, Suzanne (Editor) ; Bengtsson, Fredrik ; Bhullar, Lovleen ; Bloss, William ; Bonet, Berta ; Börner, Susanne ; O Bonsu, Nana ; Bryson, John R. ; Burns, Victoria ; Burrows, Alexander ; Calvert, Charles ; Cassidy, Nigel ; Cavoski, Aleksandra ; Chadyiwa, Martha ; Chapman, Henry ; Chapman, Lee ; Cockram, Matthew ; Degendardt, Lisa ; Dickinson, David ; Ding, Yulong ; Dobrzynski, Dion ; Dolo, Mapaseka ; Dora, John ; Ercolani, Marco ; Ersoy, Aksel ; Farag, Hisham ; Ferranti, Emma ; Fisher, Rachel ; Freer, Martin ; Goldmann, Nicola ; Goode, Charles Edward ; Greenham, Sarah ; Gulati, Steve ; Hadfield-Hill, Sophie ; Harper, Gavin ; Hegerl, Gabi ; Hillmansen, Stuart ; Holmes, John ; Huang, Jinhui Jeanne ; Huser, Camille ; Jackson, Rob ; Jaroszweski, David ; Jefferson, Ian ; Johnson, Jack ; Kaewunruen, Sakdirat ; Kelly-Akinnuoye, Fisola ; Kettles, Graeme ; Kraftl, Peter ; Krause, Stefan ; Leckebusch, Gregor C. ; Lee, Robert ; Lockwood, Beck (Editor) ; Lohse, Johannes ; Luna Diez, Estrella ; Lynch, Iseult (Editor) ; MacKenzie, Rob ; Maddison, David ; Makepeace, Joshua ; Mann, Victoria ; Marino, Rodrigo ; Mavronicola, Natasa ; McDonald, Megan ; McGowan, Kate (Editor) ; Metje, Nicole ; Ng, Kelvin ; Nicol, Jane ; O’Sullivan, Cliona ; Phalkey, Neelambari ; Prestwood, Emily ; Pyatt, Nick ; Quinn, Andrew ; Radcliffe, Jonathan (Editor) ; Ravi, Manoj ; Reardon, Louise ; Reeder, Tim ; O’Regan, Paul ; Remedios, Louisa ; Roberts, Jon ; Rogers, Chris ; Rungskunroch, Panrawee ; van Schaik, Willem ; Swan, Jeremy (Editor) ; Thomson, Ian ; Toft, Helen (Editor) ; Tong, Jiadong ; Botello Villagrana, Fernando ; Walton, Allan ; Wason, Ceara (Editor) ; Weir, Catherine ; Wood, Ruth ; Zhong, Jian.  University of Birmingham.

The Geopolitics of Cobalt (2021) American Affairs, V(4), pp. 62-79. Harper, G.D.J.