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Efficient Direct Regeneration of Spent LiCoO2 Cathode Materials by Oxidative Hydrothermal Solution

  • Smart Energy Utilization for Metallurgical Recycling of Battery and Electronic Waste
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Abstract

The traditional direct regeneration of cathode material of spent lithium-ion batteries is encountering the challenge of high energy consumption. Here, an oxidative hydrothermal solution has been developed for direct regeneration of spent LiCoO2 materials in low-temperature operation. The regenerated cathode material displays a better structural transformation with single-crystal particle morphology. More Co2+ in spent LiCoO2 materials are successfully transformed to Co3+ in regenerated cathode materials. The initial discharge capacity of regenerated cathode materials reaches 153.46 mAh/g with a capacity retention rate of 95.02% after 200 cycles, which are both significantly higher than that of 39.83% in regenerated materials obtained by the traditional hydrothermal regeneration process. This oxidative hydrothermal solution can provide the electrochemical driving force to accelerate the repair of defects of spent cathode materials and break the limit of kinetics under low-temperature conditions. The low-temperature hydrothermal regeneration process is available to guide efficient and economically reasonable recycling of spent cathode materials.

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Acknowledgements

The National Natural Science Foundation of China (52004116), the Major Science and Technology Special Program of Yunnan Province (202202AG050003), the Applied Basic Research Plan of Yunnan Province (202101AS070020, 202201AT070184, 202101BE070001-016, 202001AU070039), the High-level Talent Introduction Scientific Research Start Project of KUST (20190015), and the Analysis and Testing Fund of Kunming University of Technology (2021P20203102008) are gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Metallurgy and Energy Engineering, National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Lithium-ion Batteries and Materials Preparation Technology, Key Laboratory of Advanced Battery Materials of Yunnan Province, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, 650093, China

    Zitong Fei, Yusen Xing, Peng Dong, Qi Meng & Yingjie Zhang

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  1. Zitong Fei
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  2. Yusen Xing
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  3. Peng Dong
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  5. Yingjie Zhang
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Contributions

ZF: Investigation, Methodology, Formal analysis, Writing–original draft, Visualization. YX: Investigation, Methodology, Formal analysis. PD: Conceptualization, Investigation, Resources, Supervision, Funding acquisition. QM: Investigation, Methodology, Writing–review and editing. YZ: Investigation, Resources.

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Correspondence to Qi Meng or Yingjie Zhang.

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Fei, Z., Xing, Y., Dong, P. et al. Efficient Direct Regeneration of Spent LiCoO2 Cathode Materials by Oxidative Hydrothermal Solution. JOM 75, 3632–3642 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-023-05941-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-023-05941-0

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