A facile strategy for recovering spent LiFePO4 and LiMn2O4 cathode materials to produce high performance LiMnxFe1-xPO4/C cathode materials

Abstract To successfully recycle spent LiFePO4 and LiMn2O4 batteries and simultaneously produce high performances nano-LiMnxFe1-xPO4/C powders, a mechanical activation-assisted method was effectively applied in the recycling process. The technique consists of the separation and purification of spent cathode materials, high-energy mechanical mixing of raw materials and a commonly used heat treatment processes. The structural and morphological characterization results indicate that nano-sized LiMnxFe1-xPO4/C composites with uniform amorphous carbon coatings were successfully synthesized from spent LiFePO4 and LiMn2O4 batteries. The electrochemical performance testing results show that the recovered nano-LiMnxFe1-xPO4/C cathodes possess promising Li-ion storage properties. LiMn0.5Fe0.5PO4/C displays high capacities of 143.2, 138.1, and 127.6 mAh g−1 at 0.1, 1, and 2C rates, respectively. The obtained cathodes also show outstanding cycling stabilities of 98.47% and 97.58% for LiMn0.5Fe0.5PO4/C and LiMn0.8Fe0.2PO4/C after 100 cycles, respectively. This work indicates that recycling spent LiFePO4 and LiMn2O4 to produce high-performance LiMnxFe1-xPO4/C is a promising strategy for recycling spent LiFePO4 and LiMn2O4 based lithium ion batteries (LIBs) in an efficient and environmentally friendly manner.