Low-temperature plasma process supports direct recycling of battery cathodes

Direct battery-recycling methods, such as re-lithiation — where depleted lithium is replenished directly onto cathodes via a solid-state reaction — hold many benefits over indirect methods, such as those relying on hydrometallurgy or pyrometallurgy, where cathodic structures are destroyed in smelting and grinding processes. However, two major hurdles for large-scale adoption of direct recycling methods are impurity removal and a lack of elucidation on surface-rejuvenation mechanisms. A new low-temperature plasma process developed by a team of researchers enables the efficient removal of carbon and fluorine impurities and supports high-performance rejuvenation of spent battery cathodes via re-lithiation.

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