Recycling

Cell Regeneration by Injection of Lithium Donor

Spent 4.00Ah Graphite|NCM cell recovery after donor injection using different protocols1

Researchers have introduced a novel method for regenerating spent cells by introducing a lithium donor

Introducing salts that irreversibly liberate lithium ions into the electrolyte replenishes reserves lost during standard cell formation processes

Prismatic- and pouch-scale cells can be revived without any required post processing or cell tear down, streamlining the cell recycling process

The process has been demonstrated in traditional Li-ion cells, Li-S cells containing SPAN electrodes, and anode-free cells.

Cell recovery can be further optimized with tailored polarization cycles to re-insert lost lithium

1.0 Ah pouch cell repeated capacity recovery after injection of LiSO2CF32

Injection of lithium donors into spent cells and packs shows promise as a streamlined, single step method to rejuvenate spent cells after cycling. Additionally, the method is cell chemistry independent and can be further optimized with cell-specific polarization steps. Source: 1 Ogihara et al. Joule 2024, 2 Chen et al. Nature 2025)

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