Start from the source: direct treatment of a degraded LiFePO4 cathode for efficient recycling of spent lithium-ion batteries

Abstract

With the large-scale application of lithium-ion batteries, the recycling of retired LIBs has been a crucial problem to address. Among the spent LIBs, LiFePO₄ (LFP) recycling is urgently needed as it is one of the most extensively utilized cathodes in the sustainable development of LIBs. However, traditional pyro-/hydro-metallurgical recycling methods are normally complicated and uneconomical. Here, we exhibit an efficient and green method with a simple route to regenerate a degraded LiFePO₄ cathode, through which the cathode sheets are directly broken down into aluminum foil, high-purity FePO₄ and lithium-containing solution by the introduction of hydrogen peroxide as a leaching reagent. The leaching efficiency of Li exceeds 96.3% with scarce Al and Fe, and the regenerated LiFePO₄ from recovered FePO₄ displays excellent rate capability and long-term cycling stability. This research greatly reduces the processing steps and chemical consumption, which is conducive to the sustainable industrial development of spent lithium-ion batteries.