Issue 7, 2023

Cathode regeneration and upcycling of spent LIBs: toward sustainability

Abstract

‘Green ambition towards sustainability’ is one of the hot research topics of the 21st century. With the sharp steering of the energy infrastructure toward fulfilling this radical expectation, the last decade has seen a global trend toward diversified sustainable renewable energy sources (such as solar, wind, and hydroelectric power) and electrification. Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are playing a significant role in this energy revolution. However, with the massive scale of the production of LIBs and their eventual retirement, attention has been turned to the erratic supply of raw materials used to manufacture these batteries and their disposal. Cathode regeneration technology is likely to be an optimal solution for the disposal of waste cathodes, aimed at non-destructively repairing and straightforwardly reusing degraded cathode materials for re-manufacturing LIBs with a shortened circular process, reasonable profits, and excellent efficiency. Cathode upcycling technology, aimed at upgrading the electrochemical performance of degraded materials, can be well adapted to the upgrading of battery chemistry and show excellent flexibility and potential for transforming the LIB industry from a resource-based to a circular economy. Thus, a holistic perspective based on the complete life cycle of LIBs is encouraged, and sustainability must be at the forefront regarding battery and pack design, raw material acquisition, materials synthesis, manufacturing, operating, retiring, and recycling processes of LIBs.

Graphical abstract: Cathode regeneration and upcycling of spent LIBs: toward sustainability

Article information

Article type
Perspective
Submitted
08 Mas 2023
Accepted
26 Mey 2023
First published
02 Jun 2023

Energy Environ. Sci., 2023,16, 2856-2868

Cathode regeneration and upcycling of spent LIBs: toward sustainability

X. Xiao, L. Wang, Y. Wu, Y. Song, Z. Chen and X. He, Energy Environ. Sci., 2023, 16, 2856 DOI: 10.1039/D3EE00746D

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements