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Recovery and Reuse of Anode Graphite from Spent Lithium-Ion


Batteries via Citric Acid Leaching
Jingbo Yang, Ersha Fan, Jiao Lin, Faiza Arshad, Xiaodong Zhang, Hanyong Wang, Feng Wu,
Renjie Chen, and Li Li*

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ABSTRACT: With the rapid growth of retired lithium-ion batteries (LIBs),


Downloaded via UNIV DARMSTADT on November 13, 2022 at 16:27:38 (UTC).

the recycling of electrode materials has become a hot topic in research.


Considering the economic factors, the recovery of cathode electrodes has
always been the focus of research. Until now, the recovery of anode electrode
materials has gained much attention due to their large proportion in batteries.
This research focuses on the recovery and regeneration of anode graphite.
Based on the existing form of lithium in anode graphite carbon powder,
environmentally friendly citric acid is selected as the extraction reagent to
extract lithium and regenerate spent graphite. Through orthogonal experi-
ments and conditional experiments, the optimal conditions for extracting the
lithium element from the spent LIB anodes were a temperature of 90 °C, S/L
ratio of 1:50 g mL−1, CAC of 0.2 mol L−1, and time of 50 min, and the leaching
rate of lithium ions can reach 97.58%. The electrochemical performance tests
showed that the regenerated graphite anode material after the extraction of
lithium had a high discharge capacity of 330 mA h g−1 after 80 cycles at 0.5 C, and the Coulombic efficiency is maintained above
99%. By comparing the regenerated graphite and the pretreated spent graphite, the regenerated leached graphite has obviously
excellent electrochemical performance, and its properties can be comparable to those of artificial graphite. This experimental result
provides a theoretical basis for the subsequent recycling of anode electrode graphite.
KEYWORDS: spent lithium-ion batteries, anode graphite, citric acid, leaching, recovery

1. INTRODUCTION impurities in spent graphite because in the process of charge


With the worldwide increase in the use of electronic products and discharge, the Li element in the cathode electrode will be
and electric vehicles, the consumption of lithium-ion batteries embedded in the anode graphite material, thus causing the
failure of graphite.10,11 There are a variety of metal impurities
(LIBs) has increased dramatically. Global demand for LIBs is
in the spent anode graphite, which provide convenient
expected to increase tenfold by 2030. More than 2 million tons
conditions for the surface modification and functional design
of retired LIBs will be produced each year.1−5 Therefore, the
of materials in the later stage and can also avoid the secondary
recycling of spent LIBs has gradually become the focus of
pollution of harmful metals. In addition, the porous carbon
worldwide attention.
anode electrode materials in the spent batteries have large
However, most of the research is focused on the recycling of
carbon content and are relatively pure. Its huge specific surface
metal materials in the cathode electrode.6−9 There are few
area and excellent structure provide good conditions for the
reports on the recovery and utilization of anode graphite
reapplication of graphite materials in many fields. The
materials in spent LIBs. With the shortage of resources in
recycling and reapplication of graphite as the anode of LIBs
modern society and the increase in production costs, graphite,
can not only reduce the cost of raw materials and bring higher
as a common raw material in the field of production, has a wide
economic benefits for the synthesis of new materials but also
range of application value. Therefore, the recycling and
regeneration of anode graphite in spent batteries cannot be
ignored. At present, a lot of graphite powder byproducts have Received: April 8, 2021
been obtained by leaching manganese, cobalt, zinc, and other Accepted: May 11, 2021
metals from batteries. The content of Ni, Pb, Zn, and other Published: June 4, 2021
harmful metals in the graphite materials is lower than 0.01 wt
% and contains trace amounts of Fe, Al, and Cu (about 0.5 wt
%) and about 4 wt % of Li. There are many lithium metal

© 2021 American Chemical Society https://doi.org/10.1021/acsaem.1c01029


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realize the recycling and utilization of spent battery materials is, S/L ratio (1:40−70 g mL−1), CAC (0.1−0.3 mol L−1), reaction time
and achieve the goal of sustainable development.12 (20−60 min), and temperature (60−90 °C). In actual operation, the
Due to the rapid increase in the number of spent LIBs, the stirring speed was set at 300 rpm, which is because the leaching
recycling of anode electrode materials after effective regener- efficiency shows no obvious variety when increasing the stirring speed
to above 300 rpm.32 Transparent leachate and black solid can be
ation and reuse have formed a completely closed cycle, which obtained by multiple pumping. Then, the leachate was detected by
can also bring considerable economic benefits and realize the ICP. The metal ions contained in the leachate are mainly lithium ions,
sustainable development of the lithium-ion power battery so the lithium in the anode of SG is recovered in the form of lithium
industry. At present, the recovery and reuse of anode graphite citrate. The resulting black powder was dried at 60 °C for 24 h and
mainly have the following application ways. (1) Used as marked as regenerated LG.
materials for supercapacitors: reduced graphene oxide (rGO) 2.3. Analytical Methods. The spent anode powders after
was synthesized from spent LIBs and applied to super- calcination were completely dissolved in the mixture solution of
capacitors.13−16 (2) As an adsorbent: after being pretreated HNO3, HF, and H2O2, and then, ICP test was conducted. After
and activated with oxidizing acid and then treated by chemical digestion, ICP can measure the concentration of lithium ions in the
deposition or impregnation, the recovered carbon materials solid powder before leaching (C0). The concentration of lithium ions
in the leaching solution after acid leaching can also be measured (C).
can be an excellent material for removing phosphorus, Thus, the leaching rate of lithium ions can be obtained by the
magnesium, and other heavy metals.17−22 (3) Preparation of following calculation (μ). The leaching rate was calculated according
graphene and GO: since graphene and GO are prepared to to formula 133
break chemical bonds and separate graphene layers, the battery
cycle can be seen as a prefabrication step, which can R0 − R C V − CV
μ= = 0 0 × 100%
dramatically increase the productivity of graphene and its R0 C0V0 (1)
derivatives.23−25 (4) As the new anode materials: considering
the potential benefits of recycling anode materials for new X-ray diffraction (XRD; Brucker D8 Advance), scanning electron
lithium batteries, it can be used as a source of graphite microscopy (SEM; HitachiS-4800), and Raman spectroscopy
materials that have been pretreated with additives, which not (Raman; Renishaw inVia) were employed for the characterization
only reduces the search for new sources but also avoids the of the SG and LG powders.
pretreatment of the original graphite materials.26,27 2.4. Electrochemical Measurements. The graphite electrodes
were made of the active material (80 wt %), acetylene black (10 wt
In this paper, the spent anode graphite materials of a mobile
%), and PVDF binder (10 wt %) dissolved in NMP. The obtained
phone LIB are used as new raw materials for the LIB anode. uniform slurry was coated onto a Cu foil with a doctor blade, then
First, anode graphite is regenerated by thermal treatment and dried at 60 °C for 24 h in an oven to remove the residual NMP,
environmentally friendly organic acid leaching, which is the pressed using a punch machine, cut, and weighted. In a glove box with
important step to recycle spent LIBs for a green closed loop. an argon atmosphere (H2O < 0.01 PPM, O2 < 0.01 ppm), the
Green organic acid is used to remove impurity and recover the CR2025-type battery shell was used to assemble the button-type
lithium element, and the optimal conditions of organic acid battery, the polypropylene porous membrane was used as the
leaching are explored. Then, coin cells were assembled based diaphragm, the LIPF6-EC/DEC/EMC organic mixture liquid of
on the graphite materials before and after regeneration as the 1:1:1 1.0 mol L−1 volume ratio was used as the electrolyte, and the
anode materials, and the electrochemical performance was prepared graphite material electrode sheet was placed in the cathode
electrode shell. The high-purity lithium sheet (≥99.9 wt %) was
tested. The reasons why the regenerated graphite has higher
placed in the anode electrode shell as the counter electrode. As a final
specific capacity, better stability, and rate performance than step, the assembled batteries should be sealed with a battery-sealing
spent graphite were deeply explored. machine. After resting for 24 h, the electrochemical properties of
different kinds of graphite were tested at different ratios.34,35 The
2. EXPERIMENTAL SECTION cycle performance of coin cells was tested by galvanostatic charge/
discharge cycling tests with a multichannel battery tester (LANHE
2.1. Pretreatment of Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries. Spent LIBs CT2001A) in a voltage range of 0.01−2.0 V at selected rates from 0.1
were supplied by the Beijing Zhuangshi Technology Co., Ltd. In order to 2 C (1 C = 372 mA h g−1). Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and
to meet the safety requirements of the laboratory, spent LIBs must be electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) tests were performed
pretreated with NaCl solution. After full discharge, the batteries can on a CHI604D workstation. The CV test voltage range is 0.01−2.0 V.
be disassembled manually to obtain the anode material.28 The Furthermore, EIS tests were performed in the frequency range from
obtained spent anode is calcined at 450 °C in a tube furnace for 1.5 h
100 KHz to 0.01 Hz.
to remove the binder and electrolyte, thus completely separating the
copper foil and the anode active material and recovering the copper
foil 100%. Then, the thoroughly separated anode powder is calcined 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
at 500 °C for 1 h in a muff furnace to expect the oxidation of trace
copper and aluminum in the anode material.29−31 In this experiment, 3.1. Recovery of Lithium and Regeneration of
the solid powder obtained by this step is called as spent battery anode Graphite by Acid Leaching. First, ICP test was carried
graphite (SG). out on the anode materials of spent LIBs to detect the main
2.2. Recovery of Lithium and Regeneration of Graphite. The metal impurities in the pretreated SG. The test results are
lithium in SG was recovered by acid leaching, and the regenerated presented in Table 1. The anode material of lithium batteries
leached graphite (LG) could be obtained at the same time. All involved in this experiment contains 35.63 g kg−1 Li, 5.21 g
leaching reactions take place in a three-necked round-bottom flask kg−1 Cu, and a small amount of Na, Al, Co, and Mn metals.
equipped with an impeller agitator and a condenser. The reaction However, in subsequent experiments, it was found that when
temperature was controlled by a constant-temperature water bath
method. The impeller agitator is used to control stirring speed, while
the leaching solution was tested by ICP, the content of metal
the reflux condenser is used to reduce the evaporation of water. ions such as Cu, Na, and Al in the solution was below the test
Precisely weighed spent anode powder and a known concentration of limit (0.1 ppm), and the accurate value could not be measured.
citric acid solution were successively added to the reactor. In the citric Therefore, the leaching and recovery of lithium metal are
acid leaching, the following operational variables were explored, that mainly discussed in the following paper. Figure 1 presents the
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Table 1. ICP Test of Spent Lithium Battery Anode Materials Table 2. Depth Analysis Results of Orthogonal Experiments
(Error Limits: ±5%)
effect factor temperature S/L time acid
metal element content (g kg−1) K1 0.699 0.705 0.733 0.703
Li 35.6330 K2 0.709 0.791 0.738 0.772
Cu 5.2134 K3 0.726 0.783 0.737 0.782
Na 1.3221 K4 0.855 0.710 0.783 0.741
Al 0.2400 extreme deviation 0.156 0.086 0.050 0.079
Co 0.2156 priority order temperature > S/L > citric acid
Mn 0.2113 concentration > time
optimum theoretical condition temperature 90 °C, S/L 50 g mL−1,
time 50 min, CAC 0.2 mol L−1

schematic diagram of the relationship between the leaching


rate and four influencing factors. This result is attributed to the removal of metal ions and
After that, the range of experimental results of each factor is residual non-conductive impurities by acid leaching, which
calculated to determine the impact of each factor in Table 2. leads to the increase in the graphite-phase content on the
The greater the value of extreme deviation, the more obvious surface of the LG. On the other hand, compared with the spent
the influence effect is. From the table, we can draw the graphite, the (002) diffraction peak of the impregnation
conclusion that temperature has the most obvious influence on graphite shifts to the left. This is because after acid leaching,
the experimental results, the second is the S/L ratio, the third the LG becomes fluffy and the spacing between carbon layers
is CAC, and time has the least effect among all the factors.36−38 becomes larger.
According to the preliminary results of the orthogonal As can be seen in Figure 3b, it is obvious that there are three
experiment, the optimal theoretical conditions can be distinct characteristic peaks in the Raman spectra of SG and
determined as a temperature of 90 °C, S/L ratio of 1:50 g LG samples, which are the D-band (1350 cm−1), G-band
mL−1, time of 50 min, and CAC of 0.2 mol L−1. (1580 cm−1), and 2D band (2720 cm−1) respectively. In
In order to determine the more accurate, economical, and general, the D-band represents the defect of the graphite
efficient leaching conditions, it is necessary to carry out crystal, while the G-band represents the in-plane stretching
conditional tests on the basis of orthogonal tests. According to vibration of carbon SP2 hybridization. ID/IG represents the
the initial optimal conditions obtained from the orthogonal defect degree of the graphite structure. The higher the ratio is,
experiment, the conditional experiment needs to further the more defects there are on the surface of the graphite
expand the value range of the influencing factors and further material. By calculation, the ratio of LG is 0.398 and scrap
subdivide the gradient. Experiments should be carried out in graphite is 0.198. This indicates that the graphite after acid
the order of effects; the first variable to be tested is leaching forms a loose structure and the layer spacing
temperature, and the last is time. The relationship between increases. The surface defects increase, and more active sites
the leaching rate and the four influencing factors is shown in are exposed. More active sites can provide more storage space
Figure 2. and transport channels for lithium ions, which is beneficial to
Through orthogonal test and condition test, the optimal improve the electrochemical performance of electrode
leaching conditions are as follows: temperature 90 °C, S/L materials.39,40
ratio 1:50 g mL−1, CAC 0.2 mol L−1, and time 50 min. Under The micromorphology of SG and LG samples was observed
these conditions, lithium metal can be recovered in the form of by SEM, as shown in Figure 3c−h. Figure 3c−e shows the
lithium citrate to the maximum extent, and the LG with the overall, cross-sectional, and local images of SG, where the
highest purity can be obtained. agglomeration phenomenon and a large number of light-
3.2. Composition and Characterization of Anode colored non-conductive impurities can be observed with the
Graphite Materials. Figure 3 shows XRD, SEM, and Raman electron microscope. Figure 3f−h shows the overall, cross-
images of SG and LG samples. As presented in Figure 3a, the sectional, and local images of LG respectively. It can be
XRD figure shows that the intensity of all diffraction peaks of observed that there is almost no non-conductive part in the
the LG increases compared with that of the spent graphite. material, indicating that all impurities have been removed after

Figure 1. Schematic diagram of the relationship between the leaching rate and four influencing factors in the orthogonal experiment.

6263 https://doi.org/10.1021/acsaem.1c01029
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Figure 2. Schematic diagram of the relationship between the leaching rate and four influencing factors in the condition experiment.

Figure 3. (a) XRD image of LG and SG. (b) Raman spectra image of LG and SG. (c−e) Overall, cross-sectional, and local SEM images of SG and
(f−h) LG.

Figure 4. Schematic diagram of pretreatment and acid leaching process of spent graphite anode materials.

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Figure 5. Electrochemical performances of SG and LG samples: (a) cycling performances at 0.1 C (RT) and (b) 0.5 C (30 °C), (c) rate
performances at different currents, and (d) charge−discharge curves of the first cycle at different rates.

acid leaching. On the other hand, the agglomeration degree of It is worth noting that the first cycle coulombic efficiency of
the LG sample is significantly reduced, and the particle surface LG is lower than that of SG, and the discharge specific capacity
is smoother. of the first cycle (468.3 mA h g−1) is higher than that of SG
3.3. Regeneration Mechanism of Spent Graphite. The (332.8 mA h g−1). It is reasonably speculated that the leaching
mechanism diagram of the pretreatment and regeneration graphite material consumes more electrolyte and lithium ions
process of spent graphite anode materials are shown in Figure in the process of charge and discharge in the first cycle to form
4. The untreated spent graphite anode material was pretreated a good SEI film, which may be one of the reasons why the
and calcined in two steps to obtain directly recyclable copper cycling performance of LG is much better than that of SG in
foil and SG containing a small number of impurities. Then, the subsequent cycles.44 In addition, the reason for the difference
SG was leached with citric acid. Citric acid (C6H8O7) is a in the recycling performance of the two materials may be that
tricarboxylic acid compound with three H+ ionizations. It is a the residual electrolyte and residual binder in the SG make the
kind of green organic acid that widely exists in nature, and it is stability and conductivity of the materials deteriorate during
highly acidic. This is the reason why it was chosen as the the recycling process. However, the LG after acid leaching
leaching acid in this experiment. In fact, some forms of lithium removes most of the impurities with poor electrical
in anode active materials are water-soluble, such as RoCo2Li, conductivity and provides more channels for the deintercala-
CH3OLI, and Li2O,while others are embedded in the anode’s tion of lithium ions.
active material and are almost insoluble in water, such as The rate performance of the sample was investigated by
ROCO2Li and LiF, which will decompose in citric acid discharging at different currents (0.1−2 C), as presented in
solution.41−43 Figure 5c. The discharge capacities of LG are 351.2, 332,
3.4. Electrochemical Properties of Anode Graphite 301.2, 260.4, and 174.2 mA h g−1 at 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, and 2 C,
Materials. The cycle performances of LG and SG at 0.1 C respectively. After cycling at 2 C, the discharge capacity
(room temperature) and 0.5 C (30 °C) are shown in Figure recovers to the initial value, 353.8 mA h g−1, which proves that
5a−b. Under room temperature, the reversible discharge reversible capacity attenuation has occurred in the battery.
capacity of SG is 332.8 mA h g−1 in the first cycle at 0.1 C and Overall, whether in a high-current cycle or a low-current cycle,
stabilized at about 300 mA h g−1 after 40 cycles; LG achieves LG has a higher specific capacity than SG.
468.3 mA h g−1 in the first cycle and is stabilized at about 320 Figure 5d reveals the charge−discharge curves of the first
mA h g−1 after 40 cycles. Under a constant temperature of 30 cycle at different rates. It can be seen from the 0.1 C discharge
°C, the reversible discharge capacity of SG stabilized at about curve of the SG anode that its initial voltage is 0.8 V. The
300 mA h g−1 after 80 cycles at 0.5 C (initially activated by initial voltage of the LG anode is 2.0 V. The reason for this
three cycles at 0.1 C); LG stabilized at about 330 mA h g−1 situation can be speculated that there is a certain amount of
after 80 cycles. The LG obtained by acid leaching obviously lithium ions in the spent graphite anode material without acid
has higher discharge capacity and cycle stability under the leaching to remove impurity, which leads to a low initial
same conditions. potential. The LG contains almost no lithium ions, so the
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Figure 6. Nyquist plots in the frequency range of 100 kHz to 0.01 Hz (a) before the charge and discharge cycle and (b) after three cycles of
charging and discharging cycles. The CV curve for the first three cycles of (c) LG and (d) SG.

voltage is higher. The plateaus of the charge/discharge curves the difference between the two materials is not large, indicating
occur at around 0.1 V, and they are more stable at lower that the ZW of each sample is similar because the same
current cycle. electrolyte is used in the battery assembly and the test
Figure 6a−b shows CV curves of SG and LG. In the CV environment is the same. In general, the LG has lower
curve of first cycles, there is an irreversible reduction peak near resistance as the anode material for LIBs and higher electron
0.65 V for both kinds of graphite, which is mainly attributed to and lithium-ion transfer rates.
the irreversible process caused by the reaction of the
electrolyte on the material surface to form a SEI film.45 After 4. CONCLUSIONS
the first charge−discharge process, the CV curves in the
Adopting the green and simple thermal treatment and acid
second and third cycles have a higher coincidence degree,
leaching, high-purity and excellent-performance regenerated
indicating that the electrochemical behavior of the sample
graphite was obtained as new anode materials, and a high
tends to be stable. On the whole, the coincidence rate of the
recovery rate of lithium ions was achieved from spent LIBs.
LG cubic cycle curve is higher, which indicates that the battery The results of the orthogonal experiment and conditional
has small polarization, good reversibility, and better electro- experiment showed that the leaching rate of lithium ions was
chemical performance. On the other hand, it is also obvious over 97% under the optimal conditions, namely, a temperature
that the CV curves of LG are smoother, indicating that it of 90 °C, S/L ratio of 1:50 g mL−1, CAC of 0.2 mol L−1, and
contains fewer impurities and side reactions. time of 50 min. The electrochemical performance experiments
Figure 6c−d shows the AC impedance profiles of SG and show that regenerated LG has a good electrochemical
LG before and after three cycles of activation. The semicircle performance compared with SG, which indicates that through
part and the oblique part of the curve in the EIS figure calcination and acid leaching, the specific capacity and stability
represent the charge and mass transfer impedance Rct and the of graphite as anode materials can be improved without
diffusion impedance ZW, respectively.46 It can be clearly changing the graphite structure. This provides a theoretical
observed from the impedance diagram that the Rct of LG is basis and data support for the idea that LG can be used as
much smaller than that of SG before and after activation. The anodes of batteries again. It is beneficial to realize the goal of
reason for this is that after calcination and acid leaching, most the green full closed-loop cycle of the battery..


of the impurities, mainly including the binder, electrolyte, and
metal ions, are removed, thus reducing the overall impedance
of the material. On the other hand, it can be seen that after AUTHOR INFORMATION
three cycles of activation, the Rct of the two kinds of graphite is Corresponding Author
significantly reduced. It is reasonable to speculate that after Li Li − Beijing Key Laboratory of Environmental Science and
activation, both kinds of graphite form a good SEI film and Engineering, School of Materials Science and Engineering,
reduce electrode polarization. In the slope part of the figure, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China;
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