Easily recyclable lithium‐ion batteries: Recycling‐oriented cathode design using highly soluble LiFeMnPO₄ with a water‐soluble binder

Abstract

Recycling lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is fundamental for resource recovery, reducing energy consumption, decreasing emissions, and minimizing environmental risks. The inherited properties of materials and design are not commonly attributed to the complexity of recycling LIBs and their effects on the recycling process. The state-of-the-art battery recycling methodology consequently suffers from poor recycling efficiency and high consumption from issues with the cathode and the binder material. As a feasibility study, high-energy-density cathode material LiFeMnPO 4 with a water-soluble polyacrylic acid (PAA) binder is extracted with dilute hydrochloric acid at room temperature under oxidant-free conditions. The cathode is wholly leached with high purity and is suitable for reuse. The cathode is easily separated from its constituent materials and reduces material and energy consumption during recycling by 20% and 7%, respectively. This strategy is utilized to fabricate recyclable-oriented LiFeMnPO 4 /graphite LIBs with a PAA binder and carbon paper current collector. Finally, the limitation of the solubility of the binder is discussed in terms of recycling. This research hopefully provides guidance for recycling-oriented design for the circular economy of the LIB industry. K E Y W O R D S battery design, easily recyclable batteries, LiFeMnPO 4 , lithium-ion batteries, recycling

Fundamentals, status and challenges of direct recycling technologies for lithium ion batteries

“…Organic binders with robust molecular forces are typically employed to ensure strong adhesion between the active electrode materials and the current collector, thereby impeding their easy separation. 55…”

Efficient separation and selective Li recycling of spent LiFePO4 cathode

“…Peng et al have perfectly implemented the recovery of Li and Fe via a redox reaction between ammonium persulfate and LFP, and Li et al have also separated Li and Fe using hydrogen peroxide [25,26] . Similarly, Yu et al have chosen the [Fe(CN) 6 ] 3solution as a selective and regenerative redox mediator to break LFP down into FePO 4 and Li + , with a recycling efficiency for Li removal up to 99.8% at room temperature [27] . In addition, there are some novel and valuable recycling methods.…”

Surface‐amorphized nickel sulfide with boosted electrochemical performance for aqueous energy storage

“…With the increase in global power consumption and extensive use of electronic devices, the research on advanced energy storage devices like Li‐ion batteries, 1,2 supercapacitors, 3 aqueous metal‐ion batteries, 4–6 solar cells, 7 fuel cells, and so forth has become a hot spot. Among them, aqueous energy storage devices, including aqueous Ni‐Zn batteries and supercapacitors, have stood out ascribed to high safety and economic friendliness, as well as high ionic conductivity of aqueous electrolytes 8–10 .…”