Carbothermal regeneration of LiFePO4/C cathode material by recycling the precursors from out-of-line LiFePO4 cells

Description

Abbasi and Masoudpanah show in 2026 how to rebuild a common battery cathode material from the innards of substandard cells that never passed quality checks. They converted the separated black mass from these out-of-line lithium iron phosphate cells into lithium and iron precursor compounds, then fired them with sugar as the carbon source.

Powders rebuilt from two of the precursors, at an equal molar ratio, performed best in testing. The regenerated cathode kept ninety percent of its capacity after 2,000 charge and discharge cycles at a fast rate. Other precursor mixes and ratios performed less well in the comparison. The authors present the carbothermal route, meaning heating with carbon, as a direct recycling path that skips separating every element, saving time and cost.

Catalog record

Source: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/PMC13453001