The Role of Cathode Surfaces in Lithium-Ion Battery Direct Recycling

Over the past decade the need for new sources of LIB raw materials has become apparent as the market for EVs and other consumer electronics that utilize lithium-ion batteries (LIB) has grown immensely. One emerging source of these needed materials is from the recycling of previous generation LIB cells and devices. Presently, this area is dominated by pyroprocessing and hydroprocessing. As delivered to the manufacturer these processes deliver simple salts or precursors that allow the recovered metals to be re-inserted into the LIB cathode synthesis process at a similar stage to newly mined materials. However, by reducing the end of life cathodes completely to either a metal or simple salt much of the previous investment in cathode creation has been eliminated. Direct processing is a method under development that maintains the integrity of the cathode lattice but seeks to repair the damage done by years of electrochemical cycling and restore the cathode to a near-pristine state. In this talk we will be discussing our work understanding the steps necessary to restore the recovered end of life cathode, assessing the damage done during cycling, and review various methods postulated to achieve this goal. Specific areas discussed will include methods of relithiation, role of surface damage, and role of precursors chosen.