Efficiently regenerating spent lithium battery graphite anode materials through heat treatment processes for impurity dissipation and crystal structure repair

Abstract

The recovery of graphite materials from spent lithium-ion batteries plays a crucial role in mitigating graphite shortages, achieving environmental protection, and promoting sustainable development. This paper conducts heat treatment regeneration experiments of spent graphite at temperatures ranging from 2000 °C to 2800 °C. By analyzing the dissipation of impurities, the changing pattern of impurity content in the spent graphite anode during the heat treatment was elucidated. Simultaneously, through XRD and Raman analysis, the evolution process of carbon atom graphitization at high temperatures was revealed. The results indicate that as the temperature increases, it is beneficial for impurity removal and graphite crystal structure repair. After assembling the battery, RG-2800 exhibits excellent electrochemical performance, with an initial charge capacity of 346.3 mAh/g, a first coulombic efficiency of up to 88.8 %. Through this method, the efficiency of regenerating graphite materials will be further improved, providing more possibilities for the development of the green energy sector.