Upcycling of spent graphite and iron housing from waste lithium-ion batteries for fabricating cost-effective high-capacity anodes

Abstract

Due to the soaring interest in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) in our lives and industrial applications, the accumulation of degraded waste batteries and the limited availability of minerals pose a threat to the sustainable development of LIBs. Therefore, there is a growing need to reintroduce waste materials into the sustainable cycle by creating and applying battery recycling methods that align with circular economic principles. In this study, reduced graphene oxide (rGO) embedded with iron oxide nanoparticles was generated by upcycling spent graphite and the iron housing of waste LIBs to produce a cost-effective anode material with a capacity of 534 mA h g⁻¹ over 900 cycles, regardless of the degree of electrode degradation. The manufacturing cost of the electrode materials utilizing waste graphite and iron housing is lower than that of mixed graphite–silicon oxide electrodes with identical theoretical capacities, making this process sustainable for application in industry.