Efficient fabrication of metal sulfides/graphite anode materials derived from spent lithium-ion batteries by gas sulfidation process

Although regeneration of spent lithium-ion batteries is of great significance for alleviating resource-shortage and addressing environment issues, the recycling process still confronts with great challenges. Meanwhile, majority of recycling processes concentrate on the cathode materials, while the anode material has received little attention because of its low value. In this study, we develop a novel recycling process for spent LiNixCoyMn1-x-yO2/LiNixCoyAl1-x-yO2/graphite materials to prepare carbon-metal sulfides composites (NCMS/C and NCAS/C) by the gas sulfidation method. During this regeneration process, it can not only fulfill the efficient recycling within a short procedure of solid-solid transformation without involving tedious acid-base neutralization reaction, but also realize the recycling of high-valued components within the spent batteries simultaneously. Benefiting from the synergistic effect of the tight contact between metal sulfides and reconstructed graphite with high conductivity, it delivers the outstanding electrochemical properties for lithium storage (NCMS/C: 900.4 mAh g(-1) at 0.2 A g(-1) after 200 cycles, NCAS/C: 830.5 mAh g(-1) at 0.2 A g(-1 )after 200 cycles). It is noted that this approach provides a new insight into the transformation from spent lithium-ion batteries to value-added materials with efficient reutilization, which makes full use of the valuable components by recycling spent cathode and anode materials synchronously, to achieve the win-win situation of environment protection and resource conservation. (C) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

A novel recycling process was developed in this study to regenerate spent lithium-ion batteries into carbon-metal sulfides composites through gas sulfidation method, achieving efficient recycling and outstanding electrochemical properties. This approach provides new insight into transforming spent batteries into value-added materials, by simultaneously recycling valuable components from cathode and anode materials, to achieve a win-win situation of environment protection and resource conservation.