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A contact-electro-catalytic cathode recycling method for spent lithium-ion batteries

Nature Energy volume 8, pages 1137–1144 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

With the global trend towards carbon neutrality, the demand for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is continuously increasing. However, current recycling methods for spent LIBs need urgent improvement in terms of eco-friendliness, cost and efficiency. Here we propose a mechano-catalytic method, dubbed contact-electro-catalysis, utilizing radicals generated by contact electrification to promote the metal leaching under the ultrasonic wave. We also use SiO2 as a recyclable catalyst in the process. For lithium cobalt (III) oxide batteries, the leaching efficiency reached 100% for lithium and 92.19% for cobalt at 90 °C within 6 hours. For ternary lithium batteries, the leaching efficiencies of lithium, nickel, manganese and cobalt reached 94.56%, 96.62%, 96.54% and 98.39% at 70 °C, respectively, within 6 hours. We anticipate that this method can provide a green, high efficiency and economic approach for LIB recycling, meeting the exponentially growing demand for LIB productions.

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Fig. 1: Flow chart of lithium battery recovery by CEC leaching.
Fig. 2: Metal extraction by CEC leaching.
Fig. 3: Investigations on the CEC-generated radicals for recycling.
Fig. 4: Characterization of precipitate from leaching solution after CEC treatment.
Fig. 5: Recyclability demonstration of SiO2 for CEC leaching.

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The data supporting the findings of this study are available within the paper and its Supplementary Information files. Source data are provided with this paper.

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Acknowledgements

We appreciate C. Li, S. Shu and Y. Su for their assistance with collecting and organizing data. This research was supported by the National Key R&D Project from the Minister of Science and Technology (2021YFA1201601) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number 52192610), Youth Innovation Promotion Association (W.T.) and CAS-TWAS President’s Fellowship (A.B.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Huifan Li, Andy Berbille, Xin Zhao, Ziming Wang, Wei Tang & Zhong Lin Wang

  2. Center on Nanoenergy Research, School of Physical Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning, China

    Huifan Li

  3. School of Nanoscience and Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Andy Berbille, Ziming Wang, Wei Tang & Zhong Lin Wang

  4. Yonsei Frontier Lab, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Zhong Lin Wang

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Contributions

W.T. and Z.L.W. conceived the idea and supervised the experiment. H.L., A.B. and X.Z. performed the experiments, H.L. and W.T. analysed the data. Z.W. assisted in data measurements. H.L., A.B. and W.T. prepared the manuscript. Z.L.W. revised the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Wei Tang or Zhong Lin Wang.

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Nature Energy thanks Gavin Harper, Jia Li and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Li, H., Berbille, A., Zhao, X. et al. A contact-electro-catalytic cathode recycling method for spent lithium-ion batteries. Nat Energy 8, 1137–1144 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-023-01348-y

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