Chinese Scientists Make Breakthrough in Upgrading Spent Lithium Cobalt Oxide

TapTechNews June 6 news, the Center for Environment and Energy Nanomaterials, Institute of Solid State Physics, Hefei Institute of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences has made new progress in the research of upgrading spent lithium cobalt oxide to high-voltage lithium cobalt oxide cathode materials, and successfully upgraded spent lithium cobalt oxide to 4.6V high-voltage lithium cobalt oxide. The relevant research results were published in the international journal AdvancedMaterials on May 29.

Lithium cobalt oxide batteries occupy a certain position in the 3C (computer, communication and consumer electronics) market. However, due to the continuous increase in market share, the acceleration of product iteration speed and the limited lifespan of lithium-ion batteries, the number of spent lithium cobalt oxide batteries has increased year by year.

Researchers proposed a wet chemical impregnation/solid-state sintering and phosphating strategy, which successfully repaired the damaged layered structure in spent lithium cobalt oxide, making the upgraded lithium cobalt oxide have excellent electrochemical performance at 4.6V voltage, including high specific capacity and good cycle stability (the initial discharge capacity is 218.8 mAh g⁻¹, and the capacity retention rate after 200 cycles at 0.5C is 80.9%), and the performance is better than that of commercial lithium cobalt oxide cathode materials.

Moreover, the researchers detailedly analyzed the reaction mechanism during the charge and discharge process of high-voltage lithium cobalt oxide. This study provides important guidance for directly upgrading and recycling retired lithium cobalt oxide into the next-generation high-performance cathode materials.

TapTechNews attached the paper link:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adma.202404188