Efficient recycling of cathode materials in scrapped lithium-ion batteries is urgent for the sustainable supply of the transition-metal and lithium resources. The conventional processes always extract the elements as raw materials for the resynthesis of cathode materials, leading to tedious disposal of corrosive liquid wastes. From the perspective of industrial processing, the collected waste batteries usually contain impurities (such as carbon-based conductive agents). Herein, we report a facile strategy to directly recover degraded ternary cathode materials in the presence of acetylene black using deliberately selected molten salt medium. Taking degraded LiNi_0.5Co_0.2Mn_0.3O₂ (NCM523), for example, after regeneration, the degraded NCM523 particles can directly recover the pristine α-NaFeO₂-type structure and specific capacity compared to commercial materials. The intrinsic network structures between NCM523 and carbon in the spent cathodes can trigger a faster relithiation process. This work not only provides a simple and environment-friendly method for recovering degraded ternary cathode materials but also gives a new clue to efficiently recycle and reuse waste energy storage materials.

中文翻译：

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通过均质热化学过程直接从废锂离子电池中回收降解三元正极材料并进行有效的再利用

为了可持续供应过渡金属和锂资源，迫切需要对报废的锂离子电池中的正极材料进行有效回收。传统工艺总是将元素提取为原料，以重新合成阴极材料，导致对腐蚀性液体废物的繁琐处理。从工业加工的角度来看，收集的废电池通常含有杂质（例如碳基导电剂）。本文中，我们报告了一种简便的策略，可在乙炔黑存在下使用故意选择的熔融盐介质直接回收降解的三元阴极材料。服用降解的LiNi _0.5 Co _0.2 Mn _0.3 O ₂（NCM523），例如，再生后，在降解NCM523颗粒可以直接恢复原始α-NaFeO ₂型结构和比容量相比市售材料。NCM523和废阴极中的碳之间的固有网络结构可以触发更快的重新晶化过程。这项工作不仅为回收降解的三元阴极材料提供了一种简单且环保的方法，而且为有效地回收和再利用废物储能材料提供了新的线索。