Recycling of cathode from spent lithium iron phosphate batteries

We demonstrate the concept of fabricating new lithium ion batteries from recycled spent 18650 lithium ion batteries (LIB). LiFePO₄ cathode was extracted from these spent LIB using combined approach of pre-treatment, mechanical treatment and hydrometallurgical process wherein weak organic acids, such as methyl sulfonic acid (MSA) and p-toluene sulfonic acid (TSA), were employed for the first time for leaching at room temperature of metal ions instead of conventional strong acids. High leaching efficiencies (95%) were obtained for extraction of Li and Fe using these acids from black mass. Reuse of these extracted metal ions is also demonstrated by precipitating them and synthesizing LiFePO₄ cathode. Structural characterization showed the formation of single-phase LiFePO₄ and electrochemical evaluation of this cathode in a LiFePO₄/Li half-cell exhibited a capacity of 93 mA h/g and 80 mA h/g at 0.2C and 1C rate respectively with good cycle stability.