Upcycling of low value end-of-life cathode material into next generation cathode materials

Rosie Madge; Abbey Jarvis; Wilgner Lima da Silva; Laura Driscoll; Paul Anderson; Peter Slater

doi:10.1039/D4SU00041B

Upcycling of low value end-of-life cathode material into next generation cathode materials

Rosie Madge^*, Abbey Jarvis, Wilgner Lima da Silva, Laura Driscoll, Paul Anderson, Peter Slater

^*Corresponding author for this work

Chemistry

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

Abstract

The increase in the use of electric vehicles (EVs) will ultimately lead to an increase in the number of end-of-life lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) that need to be recycled. A particular challenge concerns how to deal with low value cathodes, such as LiMn₂O₄(LMO). To this end, this paper investigates recycling cathode material from an end-of-life Gen 1 Nissan Leaf (2011 model, 40 000 miles) which contains a mixture of spinel (LMO) and a Ni-rich layered oxide (LO). Citric acid was employed to selectively leach LMO into solution while leaving the remaining LO as a solid. The citric acid also acts as a delamination agent to remove the remaining LO from the Al current collector. The LMO was then recovered from solution and upcycled to form new cathode materials. Ni-doping of the solution allowed the synthesis of the high voltage cathode LiMn_1.5Ni_0.5O₄ (LMNO) which is attracting commercial interest. Disordered rocksalt compounds Li₄Mn₂O₅ and Li₂MnO_2.25F were also synthesised and gave high specific discharge capacities of 293 and 279 mA h g⁻¹ respectively. This proof of concept work demonstrates a method to upcycle end-of-life cathode material into next generation cathode materials.

Original language	English
Journal	RSC Sustainability
Early online date	2 Apr 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1039/D4SU00041B
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 2 Apr 2024

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgements:
We would like to thank the Faraday Institution’s ReLiB and CATMAT projects (FIRG057 and FIRG063) for supporting this work. We would like to thank the Faraday Institution for the studentship funding of Rosie Madge (FITG021). We would like to thank Roberto Sommerville for disassembling the cells used in this study.

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Upcycling of low value end-of-life cathode material into next generation cathode materials
Madge, R., Jarvis, A., Lima da Silva, W., Driscoll, L., Anderson, P. & Slater, P., 22 Nov 2023, ChemRxiv, 20 p.
Research output: Working paper/Preprint › Working paper

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title = "Upcycling of low value end-of-life cathode material into next generation cathode materials",

abstract = "The increase in the use of electric vehicles (EVs) will ultimately lead to an increase in the number of end-of-life lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) that need to be recycled. A particular challenge concerns how to deal with low value cathodes, such as LiMn2O4 (LMO). To this end, this paper investigates recycling cathode material from an end-of-life Gen 1 Nissan Leaf (2011 model, 40 000 miles) which contains a mixture of spinel (LMO) and a Ni-rich layered oxide (LO). Citric acid was employed to selectively leach LMO into solution while leaving the remaining LO as a solid. The citric acid also acts as a delamination agent to remove the remaining LO from the Al current collector. The LMO was then recovered from solution and upcycled to form new cathode materials. Ni-doping of the solution allowed the synthesis of the high voltage cathode LiMn1.5Ni0.5O4 (LMNO) which is attracting commercial interest. Disordered rocksalt compounds Li4Mn2O5 and Li2MnO2.25F were also synthesised and gave high specific discharge capacities of 293 and 279 mA h g−1 respectively. This proof of concept work demonstrates a method to upcycle end-of-life cathode material into next generation cathode materials.",

author = "Rosie Madge and Abbey Jarvis and {Lima da Silva}, Wilgner and Laura Driscoll and Paul Anderson and Peter Slater",

note = "Acknowledgements: We would like to thank the Faraday Institution{\textquoteright}s ReLiB and CATMAT projects (FIRG057 and FIRG063) for supporting this work. We would like to thank the Faraday Institution for the studentship funding of Rosie Madge (FITG021). We would like to thank Roberto Sommerville for disassembling the cells used in this study.",

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AU - Jarvis, Abbey

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AU - Anderson, Paul

AU - Slater, Peter

N1 - Acknowledgements: We would like to thank the Faraday Institution’s ReLiB and CATMAT projects (FIRG057 and FIRG063) for supporting this work. We would like to thank the Faraday Institution for the studentship funding of Rosie Madge (FITG021). We would like to thank Roberto Sommerville for disassembling the cells used in this study.

PY - 2024/4/2

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N2 - The increase in the use of electric vehicles (EVs) will ultimately lead to an increase in the number of end-of-life lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) that need to be recycled. A particular challenge concerns how to deal with low value cathodes, such as LiMn2O4 (LMO). To this end, this paper investigates recycling cathode material from an end-of-life Gen 1 Nissan Leaf (2011 model, 40 000 miles) which contains a mixture of spinel (LMO) and a Ni-rich layered oxide (LO). Citric acid was employed to selectively leach LMO into solution while leaving the remaining LO as a solid. The citric acid also acts as a delamination agent to remove the remaining LO from the Al current collector. The LMO was then recovered from solution and upcycled to form new cathode materials. Ni-doping of the solution allowed the synthesis of the high voltage cathode LiMn1.5Ni0.5O4 (LMNO) which is attracting commercial interest. Disordered rocksalt compounds Li4Mn2O5 and Li2MnO2.25F were also synthesised and gave high specific discharge capacities of 293 and 279 mA h g−1 respectively. This proof of concept work demonstrates a method to upcycle end-of-life cathode material into next generation cathode materials.

AB - The increase in the use of electric vehicles (EVs) will ultimately lead to an increase in the number of end-of-life lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) that need to be recycled. A particular challenge concerns how to deal with low value cathodes, such as LiMn2O4 (LMO). To this end, this paper investigates recycling cathode material from an end-of-life Gen 1 Nissan Leaf (2011 model, 40 000 miles) which contains a mixture of spinel (LMO) and a Ni-rich layered oxide (LO). Citric acid was employed to selectively leach LMO into solution while leaving the remaining LO as a solid. The citric acid also acts as a delamination agent to remove the remaining LO from the Al current collector. The LMO was then recovered from solution and upcycled to form new cathode materials. Ni-doping of the solution allowed the synthesis of the high voltage cathode LiMn1.5Ni0.5O4 (LMNO) which is attracting commercial interest. Disordered rocksalt compounds Li4Mn2O5 and Li2MnO2.25F were also synthesised and gave high specific discharge capacities of 293 and 279 mA h g−1 respectively. This proof of concept work demonstrates a method to upcycle end-of-life cathode material into next generation cathode materials.

U2 - 10.1039/D4SU00041B

DO - 10.1039/D4SU00041B

M3 - Article

SN - 2753-8125

JO - RSC Sustainability

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ER -

Upcycling of low value end-of-life cathode material into next generation cathode materials

Abstract

Bibliographical note

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Upcycling of low value end-of-life cathode material into next generation cathode materials

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