Remanufacturing cathode from end-of-life of lithium-ion secondary batteries by Nd:YAG laser radiation

The electric vehicle industry has been rapidly developing internationally. Electric vehicle batteries (EVBs) are perceived as a low environmental impact energy storage technology. While the service life of an EVB is relatively long, a significant number of battery packs will reach the end of their service lives eventually. The end-of-life (EOL) EVBs may still have appreciable residual value for remanufacturing and secondary use. Some solid-electrolyte interface (SEI) layers will persist on the surface of electrodes deposit after a period of continuous cycling, causing the battery degradation and failure. An approach to battery end-of-life management was introduced involving remanufacturing of the cathode from EOL lithium-ion battery electrodes, and a recent study on remanufacturing process of the degraded EVBs using pulse laser to radiate SEI on the electrode surface was presented in this paper, here on a laboratory scale. Based on experimental data, the SEI film removal was carried out with laser energy intensity ranging from 0.035 to 0.169 J/mm². The remanufactured cathodes were characterized through a combination of scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and wavelength dispersive spectrometer, respectively. The experimental results indicated that the remanufacturing treatments were successful in removing the EOL by-products (e.g., SEI films) and upgrading the cathode to its pre-cycling functionality. It is suggested that the fade capacity of a lithium-ion battery can be recovered by using laser radiation method.