In this work, a new bulk Li 3.6 PO 3.4 N 0.6 crystalline polymorph has been prepared from low-cost precursors, following a simple ball-milling procedure. The densified powder exhibits a conductivity of 5.0 × 10 −6 S cm −1 at 70 °C and an electrochemical stability allowing operation with high-voltage materials up to 5.0 V vs Li/Li + . Stripping and plating of lithium in a symmetric cell demonstrates the forthcoming bulk application of LiPON in electrochemical devices. Widening the use of lithium phosphorus oxynitride compositions to bulk solid-state batteries will have relevant implications because of its unique compatibility with both high-voltage electroactive materials and lithium metal and its low density.

A bimetallic catalyst consisting of Ni nanoparticles interspersed with atomic Ru on alumina coated monolith afforded higher activity than other mono and bimetallic catalysts in CO2 methanation, providing low pressure drop at high space velocity.

Responsible disposal and recycling are essential for the sustainability of the battery market, which has been exponentially growing in the past few years. Under such a scenario, the recycling of materials of less economic value, but environmentally much more sustainable like LiFePO4, represents an economic challenge. In this paper an approach to recover used FePO4 electrodes from calendar aged Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries and their reuse in Sodium-ion (Na-ion) cells is proposed. The electrochemical performances of the Na-ion cell are shown to be comparable with previously reported values and, since the electrode can retain the original microstructure and distribution, electrode processing can be avoided. A proof of concept of a NaFePO4//hard carbon full cell using a very high positive electrode loading optimized for Li-ion batteries (≈14 mg cm−2) is shown.

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are today considered as one of the best solutions towards an energy model based on renewable sources and zero-emission electric vehicles. However, the increased production of LIBs raises concerns regarding cost and availability of key materials such as lithium, cobalt or graphite. Indeed, after almost 20 years of cost decrease, the price of lithium-ion batteries is slowing down [1]. This is related to the fact that a lot of raw materials and metals (mainly copper, aluminum and cobalt) that are used in LiBs have increased relentlessly their prices because of its continuous demand. In this sense, are needed better performing, more price competitive and sustainable battery storage solutions beyond lithium that take into consideration the overall value chain, from access to raw material, innovative advanced materials, production, recycling and second life. In this context, disposal and recycling are essential for the sustainability of this market and new recycling processes for LIBs are needed. Today there are processes that can recover high-value raw materials from LIBs (mainly copper, aluminum, and cobalt) but direct recycling of materials such as LiFePO4 (LFP) that has less economic value and are environmentally much more sustainable represents an economic challenge for the battery market and future research. NaFePO4 (NFP) has been indeed proposed as one of the cheapest and most sustainable sodium-ion (Na-ion) cathode materials, [2-3] but it is not a thermodynamically stable phase and it is necessary to obtain it from LFP through redox reactions usually using expensive, toxic and hazardous reagents, cutting down its commercialization.[3-5] LFP recovering from spent LIBs can contribute to reducing the manufacturing costs of the NFP and increase the interest to recycle Li-ion batteries based on LFP cathodes. In the perspective of a circular economy market, we propose in this work to explore the recovery of aged LFP electrodes and their reuse in new Na-ion batteries.