Direct Recycling of Cathode Active Materials from EV Li-Ion Batteries

Direct recycling of Li-ion batteries is a promising and low-cost recycling technology since the process recovers values of active materials directly without converting active materials into metal elements. However, the process is challenging from a separation perspective due to purity requirement. Herein, a new physical separation system was developed to recycle and produce ultra-high purity of cathode active materials from EV Li-ion batteries. Results showed that the recycled cathode active material product contained 99% purity of active materials with less than 500 ppm of aluminum and copper. Both the stoichimetry and structure of the recycled cathode active materials remained the same compared with those collected manually from electrode sheets. Results obtained from electrochemical testing showed that the capacity of the recycled materials was comparable to that of pristine cathode active materials, despite there was a lithium loss associated with battery charging and discharging. The present result demonstrates a viable direct recycling process for electric vehicle Li-ion batteries.