Regeneration of Black Powders of Waste Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery Produced by Large‐Scale Industrialization

Abstract

Because the waste battery materials in the industry usually come from a rough shredding process, the most available waste battery materials consist of both cathode and anode materials. However, the separate recycling of waste cathode and anode materials requires a significant investment of time and manpower. Investigation on the rational disposal of mixed cathode/anode materials is in great need for the large‐scale recycling of spent lithium‐ion batteries. Taking the mixed materials of waste LiFePO4 cathode and graphite anode as the research object, this article puts forward a simple solid‐state method to effectively solve the problems in waste LiFePO4 materials such as structural defects, lithium site loss, and poor conductivity. By optimizing the concentration of the reducing agent and lithium supplement agent, the optimal regeneration condition for material is obtained. Ultimately, the obtained LiFePO4 material achieves efficient electrochemical performances. The first‐round capacity reaches 132 mAh g−1, accounting 84.6% of the new material (0.05 C). After 100 cycles in 1 C, the capacity remains at 99%, exhibiting good cycling stability. The total cost of the regenerated LiFePO4 material has been calculated to be only 41.2% of the new material cost. This work provides new ideas for the regeneration of waste LiFePO4 material by large‐scale industrialization.