A novel approach to recovery of lithium element and production of holey graphene based on the lithiated graphite of spent lithium ion batteries

With the supply shortage and cost increase in lithium (e.g., Li2CO3), the recapture of lithium elements in priority from all possible resources is urgently needed. The lithium recycling from spent lithium ion batteries has been considered as an efficient way. However, the lithium-based products (e.g., Li2CO3) with complex impurities are tend to be finally collected from the leaching solution, which is generated by the leaching, precipitation and recycling of other valuable metals (e.g., Co, Ni) in advance. Moreover, most of the recycling methods are time-consuming, complex and full of high-energy input. Furthermore, the recycling of spent LIBs mainly focus on the recovery and refining of valuable metals of cathode and current collectors, and little attention is paid to graphite anode. Herein, we reported a novel, environmental-friendly and economically feasible approach to high recovery of lithium element (Li2CO3) and simultaneous production of holey graphite (c-hSG-800) based on the lithiated graphite of spent LIBs. Through the Hummer’s method by using c-hSG-800 as raw material, the c-hSrG-900 with hierarchical porous structure was successfully fabricated. When the c-hSG-800 and c-hSrG-900 were used as anode and cathode catalyst for LIBs and rechargeable lithium oxygen batteries, respectively, they display promising lithium storage properties.