As
an indispensable part of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), closed-loop
recycling, reusing the electrolyte from spent LIBs, has not yet been
fulfilled experimentally. Herein, this paper presents a LIB electrolyte
recycling approach which consists of supercritical CO2 extraction,
resin, and molecular sieve purification and components supplements.
The resultant electrolyte exhibited a high ionic conductivity of 0.19
mS·cm–1 at 20 °C, which was very close
to a commercial electrolyte with the same composition. Moreover, the
electrolyte was also electrochemically stable up to 5.4 V (vs Li/Li+) in the linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) measurement. The application
potential of reclaimed electrolyte was demonstrated by Li/LiCoO2 battery presenting the initial discharge capacity of 115
mAh·g–1 with a capacity retention of 66% after
100 cycles at 0.2 C. This investigation is a crucial break for electrolyte
recycling and opens a bright route toward realizing closed-loop LIB
recycling.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.