Sustainable approach for reclamation of graphite from spent lithium-ion batteries

Abstract

A scalable and facile regeneration route is exploited to recover the graphite from spent lithium-ion battery (LIB). Eco-friendly organic acid is employed as a leaching-curing reagent for the present work. All the unwanted content of elements e.g., Ni, Co, Li, Cu and Al has been completely terminated from the graphite after the purification step without any additional calcination process. The optical, structural and electrochemical properties of as-reclaimed graphite have been studied by several analytical methods. Regenerated graphite is restored their layered crystal structure along with expansion in the interlayer distance and same is confirmed from scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis respectively. Notably, high purity graphite is achieved and tested its electrochemical storage property in supercapacitor (SC) applications. As an outcome, recreated graphite exhibits the maximum areal capacitance of 285 mF cm-2 at 5 mVs-1. The fabricated symmetric SC demonstrates the superior energy storage performance in terms of durability and higher capacitance (131 mF cm-2) with better capacity retention over several cycles. It is worth to mention that, this curing process is a facile route, consumes lower energy and eco-friendly methodology thereby it may have futuristic extent for the bench scale reclamation of graphite from spent LIBs.

Construction of a 3D/2D Z-Scheme Heterojunction for Promoting Charge Separation and Augmented Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution

“…In another case, graphite powder separated from the Cu foil of spent Li-ion batteries was utilized as the precursor for the synthesis of GO by modified Hummer’s method. , Then, as-prepared graphene oxide was used for the synthesis of the NBT nanocomposites following the similar process and represented as NBT/WrGO.…”

Innovative Method to Recover Graphite from Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries

“…21 The content of anode materials in lithium-ion batteries is about 12−21%. 22,23 Natural graphite has to go through a very complicated process from mining to manufacturing into battery-grade graphite. Not only will it cause pollution to the environment but also the production cost is higher.…”

“…Graphite is generally burned directly or lost as a reducing agent for cathode materials during the recycling process . The content of anode materials in lithium-ion batteries is about 12–21%. , Natural graphite has to go through a very complicated process from mining to manufacturing into battery-grade graphite. Not only will it cause pollution to the environment but also the production cost is higher. , In contrast, recycling graphite materials from spent lithium-ion batteries is not only more economical but also a sustainable process.…”

Recycling of graphite anode from spent lithium‐ion batteries: Advances and perspectives

“…37 Considering the 12-21 wt% content of GA in LIBs and the ever-increasing amount of spent LIBs, the disposal of GA from spent LIBs has attracted more and more attention. 38 On the one hand, the discard of the spent GA will cause serious environmental pollution because of the presence of undesired metal impurities (including Li, Al, Co, Cu, Ni, Fe, and Mn) 39 and toxic organic electrolytes. 40 On the other hand, all grades of natural and synthetic graphite cannot be directly applied to LIBs, and the production of battery-grade graphite is a complex process.…”

“…Moreover, it is a little‐known fact that 1 kg of graphite is needed for achieving 1 kWh of battery capacity of commercial LIBs, which means that the demand for GA in commercial LIBs is about 10–20 times higher than that for lithium 37 . Considering the 12–21 wt% content of GA in LIBs and the ever‐increasing amount of spent LIBs, the disposal of GA from spent LIBs has attracted more and more attention 38 . On the one hand, the discard of the spent GA will cause serious environmental pollution because of the presence of undesired metal impurities (including Li, Al, Co, Cu, Ni, Fe, and Mn) 39 and toxic organic electrolytes 40 .…”