Sustainable Regeneration of Spent Graphite as a Cathode Material for a High-Performance Dual-Ion Battery

Abstract

A resource-efficient and energy-saving recycling process is vital for establishing a sustainable circular economy of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Herein, we propose and use a one-step water-based recycling process to recycle and regenerate the graphite anode materials from spent LIBs. This process can not only successfully regenerate graphite from a solid electrolyte interface, dead lithium, and residual electrolyte and maintain its long-range-ordered layer graphite structure but also enlarge the interlayer distance and introduce abundant oxygen-containing functional groups to the as-regenerated graphite. Our electrochemical characterization and density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that expanded interlayer spacing and the oxygen-containing moieties make the regenerated graphite more suitable for storing PF6 – rather than Li+. As such, the as-regenerated graphite facilitates resultant graphite dual-ion batteries (GDIBs) with impressive rate performance and stability, for example, an 85.3% capacity retention even after 500 cycles at 1 A g–1. Such a simple waste-to-resource strategy proposed in this work is expected to provide a low-cost and inspiring recycling pathway for spent LIBs and enable the sustainable manufacturing of GDIBs.

Review on the Binders for Sustainable High‐Energy‐Density Lithium Ion Batteries: Status, Solutions, and Prospects

“…[ 32,33 ] The succeeding challenge is that either direct recycling or direct regeneration essentially requires a prerequisite of obtaining high‐purify electroactive materials. [ 34 ] However, current battery chemistry restricts the fast and effective separation of high‐purify electroactive materials. Specifically, the liberation of electroactive materials from the polymeric binder and conductive additive is not a simple matter.…”

Fluorescence sensing and device fabrication with luminescent metal–organic frameworks

“…[7][8][9] The unique advantages of MOFs in structure tailoring and performance modulation make them perfect candidates for designing luminescent sensors, which have been successfully exploited to detect various pollutants, including ions, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitro-aromatic explosives, biomolecules, toxins and temperature/ pH. [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] Abnormal concentration of biomolecules is a key indicator of potential health problems, as they are often associated with certain dysfunction and even disease. The sensing of LMOFs can be divided into luminescence enhancement (turnon effect), luminescence quenching (turn-off effect) and luminescence colour change.…”

Recycled Graphite from Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries as a Conductive Framework Directly Applied in Red Phosphorus-Based Anodes

“…With the increasing popularity of portable devices and electric vehicles, the production of LIBs for energy storage has surged. − However, a significant number of these batteries are anticipated to reach their end-of-life in the coming years, typically after 3–5 years of service. − The accumulation of discarded LIBs has become a pressing environmental issue. , While the recovery technology for metal elements from the cathode has reached maturity, , recycling graphite from LIBs is still in its early stages. Graphite has been widely utilized as an anode material in LIBs due to its excellent electrical conductivity, well-ordered layered crystal structure, relatively low operating voltage, and stability .…”