Highly–Efficient and Nondestructive Delamination of Cathode Scraps Through Air Plasma Toward Direct Regeneration of LiFePO4

LiFePO 4 (LFP) scraps generated during battery production and packaging usually retain an intact crystal structure, making them particularly suitable for direct regeneration. The feasibility of regeneration depends on the delamination effect of active materials, but conventional delamination methods often suffer from structural damage and low efficiency. Herein, we propose a low–temperature air plasma treatment strategy that enables highly efficient and nondestructive delamination of LFP scraps. Specifically, a much high delamination efficiency of 99.2% can be achieved, along with an ultralow Al impurity residue of 220 ppm, fully meeting battery-grade usage. Meanwhile, the Fe 2+ oxidation ratio in LFP lattice is limited to only 1.7%, ensuring excellent structure preservation. This nondestructive delamination effect is primarily due to the fact that the unsaturated C═C structures formed during the plasma-induced PVDF defluorination process preferentially consume reactive species and thereby suppress Fe 2 + oxidation in the LFP lattice. Benefiting from these merits, the delaminated LFP material can be directly assembled into batteries, delivering a comparable performance to commercial LFP. Furthermore, economic and environmental analysis reveals that the plasma–assisted direct regeneration strategy achieves significantly lower energy consumption and operating cost than other closed–loop recycling routes, providing a promising paradigm for the direct regeneration and closed–loop recycling of battery scraps.