Analytical and Electrochemical Characterization of Mechanochemically Recovered Graphite from Spent Lithium‐Ion Batteries for Anode Additive Applications

ABSTRACT The recycling and reuse of lithium‐ion battery components must be cost‐optimized and environmentally friendly. But recycling processes could introduce scavenged impurities into the recovered material and modify its structural and morphological properties. In this work, recovered graphite from spent lithium‐ion batteries is mechanically (MRG) and subsequently chemically (CRG) purified. The powder analysis revealed a reduction in the disparity of the organic and inorganic elements when chemically purified, leading to improved material quality. High shares of MRG in anodes of full cells showed rapid capacity fading. With no noticeable performance loss, recovered graphite as additive can be used in small shares for manufacturing electrodes if they are mechanically processed only, and up to almost 50% if they are chemically processed additionally. Our findings showed that the battery performance enhances by including 10% CRG as an additive in the anode with 10% less capacity loss after 200 cycles. This demonstrates that the partial use of recovered material in the anode can support to meet the legal recycling quotas and improve cell performance at the same time.