Phase Fraction Modulation Enhances Li⁺/Na⁺ Diffusion Disparity in Spent LiFePO₄ Cathodes for Efficient Lithium...

Traditional spent LiFePO₄ (SLFP) recycling faces challenges such as high energy consumption, environmental pollution, and low profitability. A novel direct cascaded utilization strategy was proposed for SLFP, where phase fraction modulation in the SLFP lattice enabled efficient lithium extraction from secondary-treated lithium-containing brine. The approach precisely controlled LiFePO₄ phase (x in Li_xFePO₄) by regulating the oxidant dosage within a pH-maintained reversible phase transition framework. Moreover, the contraction of the crystal structure and the amplified disparity in Li⁺/Na⁺ diffusion energy barriers synergistically improve structure stability and ion selectivity. The Li⁺/Na⁺ diffusion energy barrier difference was up to 0.56 eV. During the (de)intercalation process, Li_0.19FePO₄ exhibited excellent structure stability and Li/Na separation capability. The dissolution loss rates of Fe and P atoms were only 0.27% and 0.58%. And the maximum Li⁺ recovery rate can reach 99% within 40 min. Furthermore, the economic and environmental analysis indicated that the new strategy yields 528% higher profit ($7.23 per kg of SLFP), 40.5% reduction in energy demand and 67.8% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to conventional pyrometallurgy. It bypasses the need for pre-sorting SLFP, enhancing SLFP recycling efficiency and promoting high-value use of lithium-containing brine through "urban mining".