Recovery of Laminar LiCoO2 Materials from Spent Mobile Phone Batteries by High-Temperature Calcination

Abstract

Sustainable recovery of laminar LiCoO2 materials from spent mobile phone batteries by high-temperature calcination was studied. Graphite powders were removed from the anode when the copper thin foil was attacked. Spent LiCoO2 and aluminum thin foil on the cathode were separated by pulverization and sieving. Spent cathodic materials were calcined at 900 °C to remove impurities and recover the laminar structure of LiCoO2. The structure and morphology of the recovered active materials were studied by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray. The laminar structure of the recovered LiCoO2 was found to be a favorable feature for the Li+ intercalation/deintercalation. Electrochemical properties of the recovered LiCoO2 electrode during the galvanostatic charge/discharge processes were tested by cyclic voltammetry. The recovered LiCoO2 electrode shows a reversibility and a specific capacitance of 14.0 F/g (at 50 mV/s) indicating that it exhibits favorable properties for use as pseudocapacitor. It is found comparatively that the present process is a more environment-friendly and a lower-cost recycling method, and hence more feasible for industrial applications than the other reported processes.