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Effective separation of cathode materials and current collectors is one of the most enabling steps, yet a very challenging step, in recycling electrode scraps and spent Li-ion cells. Here, a green solvent, triethyl phosphate, was used to recover invaluable cobalt-containing cathodes, such as NMC622, by dissolving the polymeric binder of poly(vinylidene fluoride). Electrochemically active materials were separated from cathode scraps collected at the manufacturing step of electrodes through a solvent-based separation method without jeopardizing their physical characteristics, crystalline structure, and electrochemical performance. We found that the recovered aluminum foils were clean without any sign of corrosion and that the polymeric binder could be recovered via a non-solvent-induced phase separation. Additionally, recovery of cathode materials from spent cells was achieved using refined separation parameters based on the recycling of cathode scraps. It is anticipated that this green solvent-based separation for cathode recovery will attract significant interest by the lithium-ion battery manufacturing and recycling communities.
Bai et al. (Tue,) studied this question.