Regeneration and reutilization of cathode materials from spent lithium-ion batteries

The recycle and reutilization of spent lithium-ion batteries for environmental protection and resource reclamation has arousing rising attention. Numerous studies placed the only emphasis on the recovery of target metals, whereas the application of recovered materials has been ignored. Recently, regeneration, a novel and efficient treatment method, can achieve not only the recycle of valuable metals in lithium-ion batteries but also the reutilization of recovered metals. Accordingly, the recycle of spent lithium-ion batteries for new cathode materials has aroused extensive attention. This paper summarizes existing processes and technologies of regenerating cathode materials from cathode scraps of lithium-ion batteries. In the meantime, the common cathode materials regenerated by diverse synthetic routes are systematically analyzed. Besides, metal impurity elements are discussed, which are likely to lead to the inferior electrochemical properties of the regenerative cathode materials. Lastly, the existing challenges and suggestions for regeneration process are proposed. This paper can lay a theoretical basis and guidance for regenerating and reutilizing the cathode materials by recycling spent lithium-ion batteries.