Green and sustainable recycling of lithium-ion batteries via an ionic liquid-driven cathode reduction method
Yin Hu1, Mingchen Yang1, Qingyu Dong2, Xiuyang Zou1, Jiangtao Yu1, Siyu Guo1, Feng Yan1*（严锋）
1Jiangsu Engineering Laboratory of Novel Functional Polymeric Materials, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Negative Carbon Technologies College of Chemistry, Suzhou Key Laboratory of Soft Material and New Energy, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China.
2CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics (SINANO), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou 215123, P. R. China
Energy Environ. Sci., 2024,17, 4238-4247
Abstract: The recycling of spent lithium-ion battery (LIB) cathodes is crucial to ensuring the sustainability of natural resources and environmental protection. The current pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical recycling strategies involve high energy processing and expensive reagent consumption, raising both environmental and economic concerns. Here we demonstrate a green and recyclable process using an ionic liquid (IL), 1-(2,3-dihydroxypropyl)-3-methylimidazolium chloride (imidazolium glycol). This IL induces the reduction and dissolution of transition metal ions from LIB cathodes. For a lithium cobalt oxide cathode, we demonstrate very high leaching efficiencies of 100% for Li and 99.62% for Co. X-ray diffraction and thermogravimetric-mass spectroscopy show that our imidazolium glycol preferentially dissolves lithium and induces lattice oxide anions (O2-) to reduce insoluble high-valent Co(III) to soluble Co(II) complexes. This imidazolium glycol-based process avoids noxious gas emissions and the imidazolium glycol is also easily recycled, which shows both economic and environmental advantages. Our process provides environmentally friendly and sustainable recycling of LIB cathodes and offers a suitable pathway for industrial-scale recycling.
链接：//pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2024/ee/d4ee00331d
