Abstract
The demand for lithium-ion batteries has risen dramatically over the years. Unfortunately, many of the essential component materials, such as cobalt and lithium, are both costly and of limited abundance. For this reason, the recycling of lithium-ion battery electrodes is crucial to ensuring the availability of such resources and protecting the environment. Herein, a simple and scalable recycling process was developed for the prototypical cathode active material Li(1.02) (Ni(0.8) Co(0.1) Mn(0.1) )(0.98) O(2) (NCM-811). By a combination of thermal decomposition and dissolution steps, spent NCM could be converted into Li(2) CO(3) and a transition metal oxalate blend, which served as precursors for new NCM. Importantly, it was also possible to individually separate each transition metal during the recycling process, thereby extending the utility of this method to a wide variety of NCM compositions. Each intermediate in the process was investigated by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Additionally, the elemental composition of the recycled NCM-811 was confirmed using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The electrochemical performance of the recycled NCM-811 exhibited up to 80 % of the initial capacity of pristine NCM-811. The method presented herein serves as an efficient and environmentally benign alternative to existing recycling methods for lithium-ion battery electrode materials.