Direct Regeneration of Industrial LiFePO4 Black Mass Using Glucose as a Multifunctional Reductant

With the booming development of the lithium-ion battery industry, there is an urgent need to develop an effective recycling method for lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4, LFP) cathode materials of spent lithium-ion batteries. Herein, a direct hydrothermal regeneration strategy for industrial LFP black mass using low-cost glucose as a multifunctional agent is proposed. Under hydrothermal conditions, glucose not only serves as a reductant to convert FePO4 back to the LiFePO4 phase and heal Li–Fe antisite defects but also in situ generates a uniform carbon coating via hydrothermal carbonization. The regenerated LFP cathode delivers a high specific capacity of 153.16 mAh g–1 at 0.1 C and exhibits outstanding cycling stability with 89.27% capacity retention after 300 cycles at 0.5 C. A comprehensive techno-economic analysis further reveals that this glucose-assisted hydrothermal route offers significant economic and environmental advantages over conventional methods, presenting a promising scalable solution for sustainable battery recycling.