Abstract
Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are widely used in electric vehicles and consumer electronics and require reliable recycling strategies. In this paper, we investigated how an ultrafast carbothermal shock treatment can be used to convert spent cathodes of LIBs (LiNi0.8Mn0.1Co0.1O2) into Ni/Ni-Mn-Co-O (N/NMCO) composites with a remarkable electrocatalytic performance toward oxygen evolution, oxygen reduction, and hydrogen evolution reactions. The converted spent cathodes can be employed as cathodes and anodes in an overall water-splitting system, and they displayed a low overpotential of 1.61 V and remarkable stability at different current densities. Moreover, N/NMCO electrodes can be used as cathodes in rechargeable Zn-air batteries, which displayed long-term stability (>30 h), high specific capacity (781 mA h g−1) and peak power density (137 mW cm−2), as well as a small charge/discharge voltage gap of 0.71 V. Thus, our study offers a “waste-to-treasure” strategy for the regeneration of spent cathodes of LIBs and their applications in other advanced energy storage and conversion technologies.
摘要
随着锂离子电池在电动汽车和日常电子器件中的应用越来越广泛, 亟需开发废旧锂电池电极材料回收技术. 本文提出采用超快碳热冲击的方法将锂电池正极材料LiNi0.8Mn0.1Co0.1O2快速转化成Ni/Ni-Mn-Co-O (N/NMCO)复合材料, 其在氧析出(OER)、氧还原(ORR)、 氢析出(HER)等反应中表现出优异性能. N/NMCO复合材料可以被同时用于电解水器件的正极和负极, 并用于锌空气电池的正极, 电池比容量可达781 mA h g−1, 能量密度达到137 mW cm−2, 充放电压差仅为0.71 V, 且可以稳定运行超过30 h. 本工作提供了一种“变废为宝”的策略, 将废旧锂离子电池正极材料转化为高效电极材料用于其他能源存储与转换器件中.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52177220), Hong Kong Scholar Program (XJ2020001), and the State Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment of Xi’an University (EIPE21203). The authors are thankful to Dr. Jing Mao, Dr. Jingfeng Zhang, and Bamo-Tech Ltd. for their assistance in SEM, TEM, and battery characterization.
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Author contributions Zheng X proposed and designed the project and wrote the draft. Zhao X and Lu J performed the experiments. Li J and Miao Z helped analyze and discuss the data. Xu W provided the resources. Deng Y and Rogach AL conceived the study. All authors contributed to the general discussion.
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Supplementary information Experimental details and supporting data are available in the online version of the paper.
Xuerong Zheng works at the School of Materials Science and Engineering, Hainan University. He has specialized in the synthesis of transition metal oxides, sulfides and selenides with controllable morphologies, phase structures, and surface/interface properties for the application in energy storage and conversion systems. He mainly studies the local environmental and electrical structure variation and energy storage mechanism of transition metals using multiscale synchrotron and neutron scattering, spectroscopic, and imaging techniques, combining with the theoretical calculations.
Yida Deng was awarded “Changjiang Scholar” in 2021, and moved from Tianjin University to Hainan University as a chair professor. He has extensive experiences in the controllable synthesis of efficient electrocatalysts, such as noble and non-precious metallic nanomaterials, as well as their chalcogenides. His interest also includes the advanced energy storage and conversion systems, such as metal-air batteries and water splitting devices using the electrocatalysts as both cathodes and anodes.
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Regeneration of used cathodes of Li-ion batteries into multifunctional electrodes for overall water splitting and rechargeable Zn-air batteries by ultrafast carbothermal shock
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Zheng, X., Zhao, X., Lu, J. et al. Regeneration of spent cathodes of Li-ion batteries into multifunctional electrodes for overall water splitting and rechargeable Zn-air batteries by ultrafast carbothermal shock. Sci. China Mater. 65, 2393–2400 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-021-1984-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-021-1984-8