Electrochemical Relithiation in Spent LiFePO4 Slurry for Regeneration of Lithium-Ion Battery Cathode.

Abstract

Recycling spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) in a green and economical way is vital for maintaining the sustainability of the LIB industry. However, given the low content of high-value components in olivine-type lithium iron phosphate (LFP), traditional metallurgical processes are economically unfeasible for recycling due to high chemical/energy consumption and labor-intensive procedures. This study proposes a facile electrochemistry strategy to directly regenerate the spent LFP material by an electrically driven lithiation process as a spent LFP slurry (200 g/L) rather than as electrodes. Minimal energy and chemical consumption are achieved by enabling the healing of spent LFP without destroying the original olivine-type crystal structure. The proposed method utilizes mild healing conditions (25 °C for 2 h) and LiCl solution as the only reagent in the regeneration process, significantly lowering the expenses associated with producing cathode electrodes. The electrochemical performance of the regenerated LFP have been dramatically recovered after regeneration, exhibiting a capacity of 151.5 mA h g-1 at 0.1 C and 96.6% capacity retention over 400 cycles at 1 C. This approach demonstrates a high processing capability and offers considerable economic and environmental benefits, making it an eco-friendly option and supporting the sustainable development of the LFP industry.