Sustainable regeneration of spent cathodes for lithium-ion and post-lithium-ion batteries

Tingzhou Yang, Dan Luo, Xinyu Zhang, Shihui Gao, Rui Gao, Qianyi Ma, Hey Woong Park, Tyler Or, Yongguang Zhang () and Zhongwei Chen ()
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Tingzhou Yang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Dan Luo: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Xinyu Zhang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Shihui Gao: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Rui Gao: University of Waterloo
Qianyi Ma: University of Waterloo
Hey Woong Park: University of Waterloo
Tyler Or: University of Waterloo
Yongguang Zhang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Zhongwei Chen: Chinese Academy of Sciences

Nature Sustainability, 2024, vol. 7, issue 6, 776-785

Abstract: Abstract The accelerating adoption of electric vehicles supports the transition to a more sustainable transport sector. However, the retiring of many electric vehicles over the next decade poses a sustainability challenge, particularly due to the lack of recycling of end-of-life batteries. Here we show regeneration routes that could valorize spent cathodes for a second life in both lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and post-LIBs. Our regeneration starts with a leaching process involving acetic acid that could selectively dissolve high-value elements in cathodes including lithium, cobalt, nickel and manganese. Depending on the added chelating agents, further co-precipitation reactions in the leachate form precursors of different cathode materials. The regenerated lithium layered oxide cathodes deliver a reversible area capacity of up to 2.73 mAh cm−2 with excellent structural stability for LIBs, whereas the obtained Prussian blue analogues show 83.7% retention after 2,000 cycles for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). Life-cycle and techno-economic assessments suggest that the current regeneration can reduce manufacturing costs for LIBs and SIBs by US$21.65 kWh−1 and US$41.67 kWh−1, respectively, with lower impacts on human health, environment and natural resources. This work paves the way for the transition to more sustainable storage technologies.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41893-024-01351-5

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