Direct upcycling of spent lithium-ion battery cathodes to efficient water oxidation catalysts

IF 6.9 2区材料科学 Q2 CHEMISTRY, PHYSICAL

Applied Surface Science Pub Date : 2025-10-10 DOI:10.1016/j.apsusc.2025.164867

Yuheng Guo, Min Yue, Chao Wu

{"title":"Direct upcycling of spent lithium-ion battery cathodes to efficient water oxidation catalysts","authors":"Yuheng Guo, Min Yue, Chao Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.apsusc.2025.164867","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Addressing the dual challenges of sustainable energy conversion and battery waste management, this work develops a mechanochemistry-assisted strategy to upcycle spent lithium-ion battery cathodes. The approach directly converts them into highly efficient oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts. Through controlled reconstruction, the cathode material becomes a defect-rich transition metal hydroxide phase with abundant charge transfer states. The resulting catalyst shows excellent OER performance, which achieves a low overpotential of 253 mV at 10 mA cm−2geo and maintains high stability in alkaline media. In situ Raman and X-ray absorption spectroscopy reveal that the high activity comes from dynamically formed NiOOH species during operation condition. Meanwhile, the stable Co/Mn coordination and inherent defects ensure long-term durability. Compared with conventional Ni(OH)2, the restructured catalyst exhibits better structural integrity under prolonged operation. This study presents a novel strategy for battery reclamation and the design of cost-effective, high-performance electrocatalysts for water splitting.","PeriodicalId":247,"journal":{"name":"Applied Surface Science","volume":"139 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-10-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Applied Surface Science","FirstCategoryId":"88","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2025.164867","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"CHEMISTRY, PHYSICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Addressing the dual challenges of sustainable energy conversion and battery waste management, this work develops a mechanochemistry-assisted strategy to upcycle spent lithium-ion battery cathodes. The approach directly converts them into highly efficient oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts. Through controlled reconstruction, the cathode material becomes a defect-rich transition metal hydroxide phase with abundant charge transfer states. The resulting catalyst shows excellent OER performance, which achieves a low overpotential of 253 mV at 10 mA cm⁻²_geo and maintains high stability in alkaline media. In situ Raman and X-ray absorption spectroscopy reveal that the high activity comes from dynamically formed NiOOH species during operation condition. Meanwhile, the stable Co/Mn coordination and inherent defects ensure long-term durability. Compared with conventional Ni(OH)₂, the restructured catalyst exhibits better structural integrity under prolonged operation. This study presents a novel strategy for battery reclamation and the design of cost-effective, high-performance electrocatalysts for water splitting.

Abstract Image

查看原文本刊更多论文

废锂离子电池阴极直接升级回收成高效水氧化催化剂

为了解决可持续能源转换和电池废物管理的双重挑战，本研究开发了一种机械化学辅助策略来升级回收废旧锂离子电池阴极。该方法直接将它们转化为高效的析氧反应（OER）催化剂。通过可控重构，阴极材料成为富缺陷、电荷转移态丰富的过渡金属氢氧化物相。所制得的催化剂具有优异的OER性能，在10 mA cm−2geo下的过电位为253 mV，在碱性介质中保持较高的稳定性。原位拉曼光谱和x射线吸收光谱表明，高活性来自于运行过程中动态形成的NiOOH。同时，稳定的Co/Mn配位和固有缺陷保证了材料的长期耐用性。与传统Ni(OH)2相比，重组后的催化剂在长时间使用下具有更好的结构完整性。本研究提出了一种新的电池回收策略，并设计了一种经济高效的水分解电催化剂。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Applied Surface Science 工程技术-材料科学：膜

CiteScore

12.50

自引率

7.50%

发文量

3393

审稿时长

67 days

期刊介绍： Applied Surface Science covers topics contributing to a better understanding of surfaces, interfaces, nanostructures and their applications. The journal is concerned with scientific research on the atomic and molecular level of material properties determined with specific surface analytical techniques and/or computational methods, as well as the processing of such structures.