Recycling Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries Using Waste Benzene-Containing Plastics: Synergetic Thermal Reduction and Benzene Decomposition

• Published in: Environmental science & technology 2023-05, Vol.57 (19), p.7599-7611
• Main Authors: Qiu, Baolong, Liu, Mengjie, Qu, Xin, Zhang, Beilei, Xie, Hongwei, Wang, Dihua, Lee, Lawrence Yoon Suk, Yin, Huayi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aromatic hydrocarbons; Batteries; Benzene; Chemical reduction; Decomposition; Electric Power Supplies; Emissions; Gases; Lithium; Lithium carbonate; Lithium manganese oxides; Lithium-ion batteries; Manganese Compounds; Manganese dioxide; Metals; Oxides; Particulate composites; Phenols; Physico-Chemical Treatment and Resource Recovery; Plastics; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Polymers; Reactors; Rechargeable batteries; Recycling; Thermal decomposition; Thermal reduction; Transition metal oxides
• ISSN: 0013-936X; 1520-5851
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c09816

Spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and benzene-containing polymers (BCPs) are two major pollutants that cause serious environmental burdens. Herein, spent LIBs and BCPs are copyrolyzed in a sealed reactor to generate Li2CO3, metals, and/or metal oxides without emitting toxic benzene-based gases. The use of a closed reactor allows the sufficient reduction reaction between the BCP-derived polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) gases and lithium transition metal oxides, achieving the Li recovery efficiencies of 98.3, 99.9, and 97.5% for LiCoO2, LiMn2O4, and LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2, respectively. More importantly, the thermal decomposition of PAHs (e.g., phenol and benzene) is further catalyzed by the in situ generated Co, Ni, and MnO2 particles, which forms metal/carbon composites and thus prevent the emissions of toxic gases. Overall, the copyrolysis in a closed system paves a green way to synergistically recycle spent LIBs and handle waste BCPs.