Development of Low-Cost Direct Recycling Process for Lithium-Ion Battery Cathodes

Abstract

With the continuous expansion of electric vehicles (EVs), the importance of recycling lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is becoming increasingly critical to maintain a sustainable future. By recovering valuable materials including lithium, cobalt, and nickel, LIB recycling minimizes waste and pollution, reducing the cost and ecological footprint of battery production. Traditional recycling technologies are designed to extract these valuable metals from spent cathode materials, resulting in lower-valued forms. Alternatively, direct cathode recycling aims to recover and rejuvenate functional cathode materials by repairing, rather than dismantling, the spent cathode. Although previous studies have covered the direct recycling of the prevalent cathode LiNi1/3Mn1/3Co1/3O2 (NMC111) into its original structures, little work has investigated the upcycling of aged NMC111 into newly developing lithium and manganese-rich (LMR) cathodes. The goal of this thesis is to optimize the process of directly upcycling NMC111 cathode materials sourced from end-of-life EV battery cells, generating advanced LMR cathodes with higher energy efficiency at a lower cost. To conduct the upcycling process, a sample of NMC111 cathode powder was prepared using a ball mill, followed by acid leaching and lithium reintroduction through oven sintering. Current results demonstrate that the performance of upcycled LMR cathodes falls short of the minimum capacity criteria required to match the effectiveness of commercially available LMR cathodes. Electrochemical analysis suggests that the upcycled samples display a hybrid combination of NMC111 and LMR properties, indicating the incomplete dissolution of the original NMC111 structures.A three-year embargo was granted for this item.Academic Major: Mechanical Engineerin