公开(公告)号：US10741890B2

公开(公告)日：2020-08-11

申请号：US15976981

申请日：2018-05-11

Applicant: Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Inventor： Yan Wang ,  Xiaotu Ma

IPC: H01M10/00 ,  H01M10/54 ,  C01B25/45 ,  H01M4/58 ,  H01M10/0525 ,  H01M4/525 ,  C22B47/00 ,  C22B3/02 ,  H01M4/505 ,  C22B7/00 ,  C22B26/12 ,  H01M4/02

Abstract: Cathode material from exhausted lithium ion batteries are dissolved in a solution for extracting the useful elements Co (cobalt), Ni (nickel), Al (Aluminum) and Mn (manganese) to produce active cathode materials for new batteries. The solution includes compounds of valuable charge materials such as cobalt, nickel, aluminum and manganese dissolved as compounds from the exhausted cathode material of spent cells. However, LiFePO4 is a waste stream charge material often discarded due to infeasibility of recycling. LiFePO4 is precipitated as FePO4 and remains as a by-product, along with graphite and carbon, which are not dissolved into the solution. FePO4 can be separated from graphite and carbon, FePO4 can be used to synthesize LiFePO4 as cathode materials and graphite can be regenerated as anode materials.

公开(公告)号：US11827998B2

公开(公告)日：2023-11-28

申请号：US17330922

申请日：2021-05-26

Applicant: Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Inventor： Yan Wang ,  Xiaotu Ma ,  Eric Gratz ,  Jinzhao Fu ,  Panawan Vanaphuti

IPC: C30B1/02 ,  C30B1/12 ,  C30B29/22 ,  H01M4/525 ,  H01M10/54 ,  H01M4/505 ,  H01M4/02

CPC classification number: C30B1/02 ,  C30B1/12 ,  C30B29/22 ,  H01M4/505 ,  H01M4/525 ,  H01M10/54 ,  H01M2004/028

Abstract: A recycling and synthesis of charge material for secondary batteries generates single-crystal charge materials for producing batteries with greater charge cycle longevity. Charge material particles undergo a heating for fusing or enhancing grain boundaries between polycrystalline particles. The resulting, more well-defined grain boundaries are easily etched by a relatively weak mineral acid solution. The acid solution removes material at the grain boundaries to separate secondary particles into primary particles along the grain boundaries. The resulting single crystal (monocrystalline) charge material particles are washed and filtered, and typically re-sintered to accommodate any needed lithium (lithium carbonate), and result in a charge material with larger surface area, higher lithium diffusivity and lower cation ordering.

公开(公告)号：US20240079580A1

公开(公告)日：2024-03-07

申请号：US17902021

申请日：2022-09-02

Applicant: Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Inventor： Yan Wang ,  Xiaotu Ma

IPC: H01M4/525 ,  C01G53/00 ,  C30B9/00 ,  C30B29/22 ,  H01M10/54

CPC classification number: H01M4/525 ,  C01G53/44 ,  C30B9/00 ,  C30B29/22 ,  H01M10/54 ,  H01M2004/028

Abstract: A method for recycling secondary battery charge materials includes a one-step molten-salt process to upcycle mixed Ni-lean polycrystalline NMC cathodes into Ni-rich single-crystal NMC cathodes. The method includes receiving a recycling stream of charge materials from end-of-lifetime batteries, adding additional charge materials based on an upcycled battery chemistry intended for the upgraded, recycled battery, and sintering the combined charge materials for generating a single crystal charge material corresponding to the upcycled battery chemistry using a molten salt direct recycling process.