Value-creating upcycling of retired electric vehicle battery cathodes

Guannan Qian; Zhiyuan Li; Yong Wang; Xianyu Xie; Yushi He; Jizhou Li; Yanhua Zhu; Sijie Xie; Zhenjie Cheng; Haiying Che; Yanbin Shen; Liwei Chen; Xiaojing Huang; Piero Pianetta; Zi Feng Ma; Yijin Liu; Linsen Li

doi:10.1016/j.xcrp.2022.100741

Value-creating upcycling of retired electric vehicle battery cathodes

Guannan Qian, Zhiyuan Li, Yong Wang, Xianyu Xie, Yushi He, Jizhou Li, Yanhua Zhu, Sijie Xie, Zhenjie Cheng, Haiying Che, Yanbin Shen, Liwei Chen, Xiaojing Huang, Piero Pianetta, Zi Feng Ma, Yijin Liu^*, Linsen Li^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

58 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The electrification revolution in the automobile and other industries demands annual production capacity of batteries of at least 10² GWh, which presents a twofold challenge: supply of key materials such as cobalt and nickel and recycling when batteries are retired from use. Pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical recycling are currently used in industry but suffer from complexity, high costs, and secondary pollution. Here we report a molten-salt-based method for direct recycling (MSDR) that is environmentally benign and creates value on the basis of a techno-economic analysis using real-world data and price information. We also experimentally demonstrate the feasibility of MSDR by upcycling a low-nickel polycrystalline LiNi_0.5Mn_0.3Co_0.2O₂ (NMC) cathode material into Ni-rich (Ni > 65%) single-crystal NMCs with increased energy density (>10% increase) and outstanding electrochemical performance (>94% capacity retention after 500 cycles). This work may open opportunities for closed-loop recycling of electric vehicle batteries and manufacturing of next-generation NMC cathode materials.

Original language	English
Article number	100741
Journal	Cell Reports Physical Science
Volume	3
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrp.2022.100741
Publication status	Published - 16 Feb 2022
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

cathode
high-energy density
lithium-ion battery
molten salts
single-crystal NMC
upcycling

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.xcrp.2022.100741

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title = "Value-creating upcycling of retired electric vehicle battery cathodes",

abstract = "The electrification revolution in the automobile and other industries demands annual production capacity of batteries of at least 102 GWh, which presents a twofold challenge: supply of key materials such as cobalt and nickel and recycling when batteries are retired from use. Pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical recycling are currently used in industry but suffer from complexity, high costs, and secondary pollution. Here we report a molten-salt-based method for direct recycling (MSDR) that is environmentally benign and creates value on the basis of a techno-economic analysis using real-world data and price information. We also experimentally demonstrate the feasibility of MSDR by upcycling a low-nickel polycrystalline LiNi0.5Mn0.3Co0.2O2 (NMC) cathode material into Ni-rich (Ni > 65%) single-crystal NMCs with increased energy density (>10% increase) and outstanding electrochemical performance (>94% capacity retention after 500 cycles). This work may open opportunities for closed-loop recycling of electric vehicle batteries and manufacturing of next-generation NMC cathode materials.",

keywords = "cathode, high-energy density, lithium-ion battery, molten salts, single-crystal NMC, upcycling",

author = "Guannan Qian and Zhiyuan Li and Yong Wang and Xianyu Xie and Yushi He and Jizhou Li and Yanhua Zhu and Sijie Xie and Zhenjie Cheng and Haiying Che and Yanbin Shen and Liwei Chen and Xiaojing Huang and Piero Pianetta and Ma, {Zi Feng} and Yijin Liu and Linsen Li",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 The Author(s)",

year = "2022",

month = feb,

day = "16",

doi = "10.1016/j.xcrp.2022.100741",

language = "English",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Value-creating upcycling of retired electric vehicle battery cathodes

AU - Qian, Guannan

AU - Li, Zhiyuan

AU - Wang, Yong

AU - Xie, Xianyu

AU - He, Yushi

AU - Li, Jizhou

AU - Zhu, Yanhua

AU - Xie, Sijie

AU - Cheng, Zhenjie

AU - Che, Haiying

AU - Shen, Yanbin

AU - Chen, Liwei

AU - Huang, Xiaojing

AU - Pianetta, Piero

AU - Ma, Zi Feng

AU - Liu, Yijin

AU - Li, Linsen

PY - 2022/2/16

Y1 - 2022/2/16

N2 - The electrification revolution in the automobile and other industries demands annual production capacity of batteries of at least 102 GWh, which presents a twofold challenge: supply of key materials such as cobalt and nickel and recycling when batteries are retired from use. Pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical recycling are currently used in industry but suffer from complexity, high costs, and secondary pollution. Here we report a molten-salt-based method for direct recycling (MSDR) that is environmentally benign and creates value on the basis of a techno-economic analysis using real-world data and price information. We also experimentally demonstrate the feasibility of MSDR by upcycling a low-nickel polycrystalline LiNi0.5Mn0.3Co0.2O2 (NMC) cathode material into Ni-rich (Ni > 65%) single-crystal NMCs with increased energy density (>10% increase) and outstanding electrochemical performance (>94% capacity retention after 500 cycles). This work may open opportunities for closed-loop recycling of electric vehicle batteries and manufacturing of next-generation NMC cathode materials.

AB - The electrification revolution in the automobile and other industries demands annual production capacity of batteries of at least 102 GWh, which presents a twofold challenge: supply of key materials such as cobalt and nickel and recycling when batteries are retired from use. Pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical recycling are currently used in industry but suffer from complexity, high costs, and secondary pollution. Here we report a molten-salt-based method for direct recycling (MSDR) that is environmentally benign and creates value on the basis of a techno-economic analysis using real-world data and price information. We also experimentally demonstrate the feasibility of MSDR by upcycling a low-nickel polycrystalline LiNi0.5Mn0.3Co0.2O2 (NMC) cathode material into Ni-rich (Ni > 65%) single-crystal NMCs with increased energy density (>10% increase) and outstanding electrochemical performance (>94% capacity retention after 500 cycles). This work may open opportunities for closed-loop recycling of electric vehicle batteries and manufacturing of next-generation NMC cathode materials.

KW - cathode

KW - high-energy density

KW - lithium-ion battery

KW - molten salts

KW - single-crystal NMC

KW - upcycling

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DO - 10.1016/j.xcrp.2022.100741

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JO - Cell Reports Physical Science

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ER -

Value-creating upcycling of retired electric vehicle battery cathodes

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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