Synthesis of Diverse LiNixMnyCozO2 Cathode Materials from Lithium Ion Battery Recovery Stream

Currently, a large amount of spent lithium ion batteries is being landfilled in many countries every year; in order to recover and reuse critical materials, a low-cost and a high-efficiency lithium ion battery recovery process was developed at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. This process recovers valuable metal elements such as Ni, Mn, Co in the form of LiNi x Mn y Co z O 2 cathode materials, where x , y , and z can be tailored. Other elements such as Cu and steel are also recovered. In this work, it was confirmed that high performance Ni 1/3 Mn 1/3 Co 1/3 (OH) 2 , Ni 0.5 Mn 0.3 Co 0.2 (OH) 2 , Ni 0.6 Mn 0.2 Co 0.2 (OH) 2 precursors and LiNi 1/3 Mn 1/3 Co 1/3 O 2 , LiNi 0.5 Mn 0.3 Co 0.2 O 2 , LiNi 0.6 Mn 0.2 Co 0.2 O 2 cathode materials can be synthesized from the leaching solutions of a lithium ion battery recovery stream. The precursors and cathodes were synthesized from a co-precipitation process and a solid-state sintering process, respectively. Electrochemical tests results demonstrated that all cathode materials synthesized from spent lithium ion battery recovery streams performed at a discharge capacity higher than 155 mAh/g at first cycle of 0.1C, and after 100 cycles at 0.5C, with over 80 % of the capacity retained.