Chen Quanwei, Guo Yi, Lai Xin, Han Xuebing, Liu Xiang, Lu Languang, Ouyang Minggao, Zheng Yuejiu
School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China.
State Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2024 Jun 19;16(24):31076-31084. doi: 10.1021/acsami.4c03606. Epub 2024 Jun 7.
With the rapid demand for lithium-ion batteries due to the widespread application of electric vehicles, a significant amount of battery electrode pieces requiring urgent treatment are generated during battery production and disposal. The strong bonding caused by the presence of binders makes it challenging to achieve thorough separation between the cathode active materials and Al foil, posing difficulties in efficient battery material recycling. To address this issue, a plasma-ultrasonically combined physical separation method is proposed in this study. This method utilizes plasma-generated excited-state radicals assisted by ultrasonic waves to separate active materials and current collectors. The results indicate that the binders are effectively decomposed under plasma treatment at 13.56 MHz, 100 W, and 10 min in an oxygen atmosphere, resulting in a separation efficiency of 96.8 wt % for the cathode materials. Characterization results demonstrate that the morphology, crystal structure, and chemical composition of the recycled cathode active materials remain unchanged, facilitating subsequent direct restoration and hydrometallurgical recycling. Simultaneously, the Al foil is also completely recycled for subsequent reuse. Compared with traditional methods of separating cathode active materials and aluminum foil, the method proposed in this study has significant economic and environmental potential. It can promote the recycling of battery materials and the development of sustainable transportation.
随着电动汽车的广泛应用，对锂离子电池的需求迅速增长，在电池生产和处置过程中产生了大量急需处理的电池电极片。粘合剂的存在导致的强粘结性使得实现阴极活性材料与铝箔之间的彻底分离具有挑战性，给高效的电池材料回收带来了困难。为了解决这个问题，本研究提出了一种等离子体-超声波联合物理分离方法。该方法利用等离子体产生的激发态自由基并辅以超声波来分离活性材料和集流体。结果表明，在氧气气氛中，于13.56 MHz、100 W和10分钟的等离子体处理下，粘合剂能有效分解，阴极材料的分离效率达到了96.8 wt%。表征结果表明，回收的阴极活性材料的形貌、晶体结构和化学成分保持不变，便于后续直接修复和湿法冶金回收。同时，铝箔也能完全回收以供后续再利用。与传统的分离阴极活性材料和铝箔的方法相比，本研究提出的方法具有显著的经济和环境潜力。它可以促进电池材料的回收利用以及可持续交通的发展。
