Driving the rapid regeneration of LiFePO 4 from spent lithium-ion batteries through one-pot mechanochemical activation

• Published in: Green chemistry : an international journal and green chemistry resource : GC 2024-02, Vol.26 (3), p.1501-1510
• Main Authors: Wang, Chenyan, Qiu, Xuejing, Shen, Gaoyang, Chen, Xizhuo, Wang, Jiamei, Xie, Lingling, Han, Qing, Zhu, Limin, Li, Jingjing, Cao, Xiaoyu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1463-9262; 1463-9270
• DOI: 10.1039/D3GC04390H

The recycling of spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is an effectual strategy for mitigating environmental and resource crises. Lithium iron phosphate batteries, renowned for their unique safety and stability, are widely utilized in energy storage systems and electric vehicles, consequently resulting in a growing number of spent LIBs. Herein, a one-pot mechanochemical process that integrates the recycling and preparation of LiFePO 4 is proposed to drive the rapid regeneration of spent LiFePO 4 . Benefiting from the inherent characteristics of the input material, more than 98% of Li is selectively released, while less than 1.5% of Fe is leached without any impurity output. To this end, these reclaimed precursors in a ball mill can be directly re-used for the regeneration of LiFePO 4 with an appropriate lithium source addition, eliminating the need to recover LiFePO 4 with various degrees of lithium deficiency. As expected, the regenerated LiFePO 4 delivers a discharge specific capacity of 143 mA h g −1 without negligible capacity fading after 250 cycles at 1 C, featuring significantly improved rate capability and long-term cycling stability. Designed with sustainable, integrated, and close-loop operation routes, this process pioneers a novel strategy to scale up the direct recycling for the LiFePO 4 cathode.