Manganese-Based Metal Organic Framework from Spent Li-Ion Batteries and its Electrochemical Performance as Anode Material in Li-ion Battery

Herein, we report a method of recycling spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) cathode materials by utilizing them as a metal feedstock for the synthesis of Mn-based metal-organic frameworks (Mn-MOF). Spent cathodes were converted to manganese salts using acids (HCl and H2SO4) and reacted with commercial benzene-1,4-dicarboxylic acid (H2BDC), as an organic linker. The LIB-derived metal salts were compared to commercial available MnCl2 salt in the formation of Mn-MOFs. Mn-MOFs from spent LIBs (MOF(Cl-2) and Mn-MOF(SO4)) exhibited similar morphological, structural and textural properties when compared to that obtained from commercial MnCl2 salt. HCl obtained MOF (Mn-MOF(Cl-2)) was analysed for electrochemical properties due to its superior structural properties. It achieved coulombic efficiency of approximately 99% and discharge capacity of 1355 mAh g(-1) as compared to Mn-MOF obtained using commercial salt (Mn-MOF(Com)) with a discharge capacity of 772.55 mAh g(-1) at 100 cycles. The developed LIBs recycling strategy has the potential for contributing to existing LIBs recycling strategies and as well to the circular economy.

Automated summary

This study introduces a new method for synthesizing metal-organic frameworks using spent lithium-ion battery cathode materials, comparing their properties to those made from commercial products. The results showed that the MOFs derived from spent batteries exhibited similar performance to commercial products, with higher discharge capacity.