Recycling Defunct Lithium-Ion Battery Cathodes to Quaternary Layered Double Hydroxides for Efficient Oxygen Evolution...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Environmental Science

Background:

• Spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) pose environmental and resource challenges due to accumulating waste.
• Efficient recycling of LIB materials is crucial for sustainability and resource conservation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel method for reusing scrapped LIB cathode materials.
• To convert waste Li(Co0.8Ni0.1Mn0.1)O2 and LiFePO4 into oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts.

Main Methods:

• Simple leaching and co-precipitation techniques were employed.
• Synthesized quaternary layered double hydroxides (Q-LDHs) from recycled cathode materials.

Main Results:

• The optimized Q-LDH-0.1 catalyst demonstrated excellent OER activity.
• Achieved a low overpotential of 270 mV at 10 mA cm⁻² with a Tafel slope of 66 mV dec⁻¹.
• Synergistic effects from Fe, Ni, Co, and Mn atoms enhanced catalytic performance via lattice oxygen mechanism.

Conclusions:

• Presents a feasible approach for recycling abandoned LIB cathode materials into effective electrocatalysts.
• Offers insights for developing low-cost, highly effective layered double hydroxide (LDH) electrocatalysts.