Plasma-Assisted Synthesis of Lithium-Based Cathode Materials—Part 2: Plasma-Based Healing of Cathode Materials

Abstract

This article presents a description of a new process for the restoration of degraded lithium-ion battery cathodes based on plasma-assisted molecular recombination (PAMR), which represents a fundamentally new direction. This technology is an environmentally friendly solution that significantly reduces costs and energy consumption, eliminates the need for liquid handling, and minimizes environmental impact. To demonstrate the capabilities of this technology, a 3-D simulation of healing solid powders consisting of 85% cathode material and 15% Li₂CO ${}_{3}~+$ LiOH in a mixing chamber of a plasma induction system was performed. The simulation revealed that the average temperature of powder particles reached approximately $930~^{\circ }$ C, corresponding to the optimal range for relithiation and crystalline structure healing. The obtained data demonstrate the feasibility of uniform plasma-assisted healing of cathode powders with high thermal efficiency (0.30–0.33 kWh/kg). These findings confirm that the proposed plasma-based regeneration process can achieve rapid and energy-efficient recovery of degraded cathode materials. The values of the main parameters are taken from the CFD-based heat balance (this work) rather than from experimental measurement; the sensitivity is ±0.03 kW h/kg to the carrier gas prehealing, powder, and powder specific heat.