Recycling spent LiNi 1-x-y Mn x Co y O 2 cathodes to bifunctional NiMnCo catalysts for zinc-air batteries

作者：Miaolun Jiao, Qi Zhang, Chenliang Ye, Zhibo Liu, Xiongwei Zhong, Junxiong Wang, Chuang Li, Lixin Dai, Guangmin Zhou, Hui–Ming Cheng · 发表于：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 年份：2022 · DOI：10.1073/pnas.2202202119 · 被引用次数：194 · 研究领域：Advancements in Battery Materials、Extraction and Separation Processes、Advanced Battery Technologies Research

Significance In recent years, lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have been widely applied in electric vehicles as energy storage devices. However, it is a great challenge to deal with the large number of spent LIBs. In this work, we employ a rapid thermal radiation method to convert the spent LIBs into highly efficient bifunctional NiMnCo-activated carbon (NiMnCo-AC) catalysts for zinc-air batteries (ZABs). The obtained NiMnCo-AC catalyst shows excellent electrochemical performance in ZABs due to the unique core-shell structure, with face-centered cubic Ni in the core and spinel NiMnCoO 4 in the shell. This work provides an economical and environment-friendly approach to recycling the spent LIBs and converting them into novel energy storage devices.