Versatile chemical repair strategy for direct regeneration of cathode materials from retired lithium-ion battery

Abstract

Direct recycling of retired lithium-ion batteries offers a promising solution to address resource scarcity and environmental concerns. While existing recovery methods focused on black mass face limitations, which underscores the demand for universal and efficient strategies to regenerate degraded cathode materials. Here, we introduce a highly compatible chemical lithiation-based method for regenerating degraded LiFePO₄ materials. This process uses a multifunctional bipyridine-lithium reagent to drive spontaneous chemical reactions, followed by annealing that simultaneously restores structural integrity and introduces nitrogen doping. The regenerated material delivers a discharge capacity of 164 mAh g⁻¹ and retains 90% of its capacity after 500 cycles at 0.5C. Additionally, this method enables in-situ regeneration of degraded electrodes, yielding a 10% enhancement in initial capacity compared to untreated samples. This approach provides a feasible solution for the direct regeneration of cathode materials, paving the way for sustainable practices in the circular development of the battery industry.