A large volume and low energy consumption recycling strategy for LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 from spent ternary lithium-ion batteries

The increased demand for energy storage devices has led to an explosive increase in spent lithium-ion batteries. However, traditional pyrometallurgy/hydrometallurgy recycling processes require high-temperature treatment, high-concentration acid leaching with reductant (H2O2), and a complex procedure, which exist energy and environmental issues. Herein, combining the advantages of pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy method, we proposed a new large-scale battery recycling strategy with industrial application prospects. In this strategy, lithium element is preferentially leached, and Ni0.6Co0.2Mn0.2(OH)2 and LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 is directly synthesized by coprecipitation and calcination process using the high-concentration transition metal leachate (∼1.0 M). So, the step separation of Li, Ni, Co, and Mn element is avoided, which makes the recycling procedure shorter than hydrometallurgy. Moreover, during the leaching process, low-concentration acid is used, and reductant (H2O2) are not required. By optimizing the experimental conditions, the recycling rate of Li, Ni, Co, and Mn is 94.47%, 99.36%, 99.28%, 99.56%. The regenerated LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 has comparable electrochemical properties to commercial LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 with 163 mAh g−1 capacity at 1C current density and 85.08 % capacity remains after 300 cycles. After calculation, the recycling strategy can obtain an economic benefit of 20,667 $ per ton of recycling spent ternary cathode powder. These results show that this method has spacious prospects for the battery recycling market, which can be further extended to industrial application for recycling spent ternary LIBs.