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Research on the process of carbon thermal reduction for recovery and resynthesis of LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2

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Abstract

In this paper, a process route for the recovery and resynthesis of spent ternary lithium battery cathode materials was proposed, combined with the recovery process of hydrometallurgy and pyrometallurgy. The results showed that LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 (NCM622) could be completely decomposed into a mixture of Co, Ni, MnO and Li2CO3 by carbothermal reduction roasting process at 650 °C, graphite content of 14% and roasting time of 2 h. The roasted product was subjected to carbonation water leaching at a liquid–solid ratio of 30 ml/g at 20 °C for 60 min to achieve a lithium-leaching rate of 93.33%. For the obtained water-leaching residue, the leaching rate of Mn, Co and Ni could reach 96.63%, 95.57% and 94.22%, respectively, by acid leaching with 3 mol/l H2SO4 at 10 ml/g liquid–solid ratio. Subsequently, the mixed sulfate solution was used to prepare the precursor by co-precipitation method, and then a ternary cathode material could be synthesized by solid-phase sintering with Li2CO3. The electrochemical test of the resynthesized cathode material was carried out. The initial discharge specific capacity was 175.2 mAh/g, and the capacity retention rate was 91.60% after 100 cycles. The excellent performance shown by the cathode material verifies the feasibility of this recycling method.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2019YFC1905703).

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  1. State Key Laboratory of Advanced Metallurgy, University of Science and Technology of Beijing, 30 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100083, People’s Republic of China

    Junjie Wang, Xiaomin You, Xuefeng She & Qingguo Xue

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Wang, J., You, X., She, X. et al. Research on the process of carbon thermal reduction for recovery and resynthesis of LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag 26, 346–359 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-023-01835-0

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