Novel Recycling Approach to Regenerate a LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 Cathode Material from Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries

With the widespread use of electric vehicles, it has attracted huge social concern to develop efficient technologies for the recycle of a large amount of spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) in the future. In this work, a novel recycling approach has been exploited to regenerate a ternary cathode material (LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2) using valuable elements in spent LIBs including pretreatment, leaching, high-temperature calcination, and coprecipitation procedures. Based on the whole process analysis, above 97.9% transition-metal elements and 81.2% lithium element in the spent LIBs could be reused. The NCM-r was characterized by a series of physical and electrochemical measurements for comparison with commercial NCM-c. The initial discharge capacity of the NCM-r could reach up to 181 mA h·g–1 (0.1C) at room temperature, and the retention of discharge capacity was 91.3% after 100 cycles. This approach is feasible for resynthesizing high nickel ternary material LiNixCoyMnzO2 from spent LIBs, contributing to both utilization of urban mine resources and sustainable industrialization.