Pilot-scale integrated LCA and C-LCC analysis for sustainable active material selection in sodium-ion batteries
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The sustainability of sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) is strongly influenced by the environmental and economicperformance of their active materials, particularly at early development stages. However, comparative assess-ments of multiple synthesis pathways under harmonized pilot-scale conditions remain limited. In this study,three Na0.7MnO2 cathode synthesis routes (solid-state, sol–gel, and hydrothermal) and three biomass-derivedhard carbon anode production pathways (walnut shell via thermal treatment, corn straw via hydrothermalprocessing, and pomelo peel via chemical activation and carbonization) were assessed within a cradle-to-gateframework. Laboratory-scale data were upscaled to a pilot-scale production scenario (100 kg day 1) using aprocess-based scaling approach. Environmental impacts were quantified using the ReCiPe 2016 midpoint (H)method, while economic performance was evaluated through Commodity Life Cycle Costing (C-LCC) coupledwith Monte Carlo uncertainty analysis.,The results reveal that process configuration and energy intensitydominate sustainability performance, outweighing the influence of raw material origin. Among cathode pro-duction routes, the solid-state method showed the lowest global warming potential (7.3 kg CO2 -eq kg 1) andmedian C-LCC (3.5 € kg 1), whereas the hydrothermal route exhibited significantly higher burdens (211.5 kgCO2 -eq kg 1; 124.2 € kg 1). For anode materials, pomelo peel–derived hard carbon presented the most favorableenvironmental and economic profile (57.6 kg CO2 -eq kg 1; 11.2 € kg 1), while corn straw–based production wasstrongly driven by electricity demand.,These findings identify energy and auxiliary material intensity as keydrivers of sustainability and provide guidance for material and process selection in emerging sodium-ion batterytechnologies.
Institutions: Sakarya University, VSB - Technical University of Ostrava
Language: English
Subfield: Environmental Engineering
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7221171339