| dc.description.abstract | Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are an emerging secondary energy system widely used due to their high energy density, long cycle life, and excellent safety performance. These batteries play a crucial role in electronic products such as smartphones, laptops, and other portable devices. Furthermore, with the rapid growth of the electric vehicle (EV) market, LIBs have become the primary power source for EVs. Over time, as old lithium-ion batteries reach the end of their cycle life, a significant amount of LIB waste is generated. With the continued proliferation of electronic products and EVs, the demand for lithium-ion batteries will only increase, leading to a corresponding rise in the number of discarded batteries. These waste batteries contain valuable metals such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel. If not properly recycled, it will result in resource wastage and pose potential environmental hazards. Therefore, the treatment and recycling of lithium-ion battery waste have become urgent and critical environmental issues.
This study aims to develop an efficient and environmentally friendly hydrometallurgical method for the recovery of cathode materials from LIBs. Subcritical acetic acid leaching was used to recover lithium nickel cobalt aluminum oxide (NCA). Through experiments, the optimal reaction conditions were determined to be a temperature of 180°C, 6M acetic acid, a solid-liquid ratio of 30g/L, and a reaction time of 4 hours, achieving leaching efficiencies of over 96% for Al, Co, Li, and Ni. The recovered metals were then used to synthesize ternary iron-nickel-cobalt catalysts on nickel foam electrodes for hydrogen production via water electrolysis, using hydrothermal and vacuum laser salt reduction methods. Cyclic voltammetry measurements showed an optimal onset potential of 1.359V, and chronoamperometry at a fixed current density of 100mA/cm² demonstrated that the voltage increased by only 0.07V after 500 hours, indicating excellent electrochemical performance and stability. This also highlights the significant future development potential and application prospects for recycled metals from spent lithium-ion battery cathode materials. | en_US |