Reclaiming graphite from spent lithium ion batteries ecologically and economically

It is extremely challenging to reclaim materials from spent lithium ion batteries that have more complicated chemistries than lead-acid batteries. In this work, a new approach is proposed to reclaim the graphitic anode materials from spent lithium ion batteries in electric vehicles, which involves a facile water treatment. With compositional and structural characterizations, it is found that the spent graphite anode still retains integrated graphitic structure with an inclusion of electrolyte decomposition products that are mainly responsible for the failure of a battery. Water treatment removes most of these impurities, opens Li⁺ transport channel and restores the graphite to be electrochemically active. After 100 cycles, the reclaimed graphite retains a capacity of 345 mAh g⁻¹, which is comparable to the 347 mAh g⁻¹ for commercial graphite. The approach we proposed requires neither harmful chemicals nor high temperature operation, providing a green and viable solution to the ever increasing threat caused by the vast mass of spent lithium ion batteries generated by electric vehicle industry.