Synergistic Co‐Recycling: Selective Oxidation of Polyethylene to Dicarboxylic Acids over Spent LiCoO <sub>2</sub> Cathodes
Abstract
Abstract The escalating production of lithium‐ion batteries and plastics poses critical challenges to environmental integrity and resource sustainability. Here, we report a synergistic co‐recycling strategy for spent lithium cobalt oxide (LCO) cathodes and waste polyethylene (PE), leveraging the catalytic properties of LCO to oxidize PE into high‐value dicarboxylic acids. Through a combination of density functional theory calculations, electron spin resonance, and in situ infrared spectroscopy, we reveal that lithium‐deficient LCO undergoes a spin‐state transition of Co 3+ to a high‐spin state, facilitating the activation of oxygen and the generation of singlet oxygen. This reactive oxygen species drives the selective oxidation of PE via hydrogen atom transfer, achieving dicarboxylic acid yields of up to 77.5 wt%, markedly exceeding previous benchmarks. Validation with real‐world plastic waste and spent batteries underscores the feasibility of this approach, presenting a sustainable paradigm‐shift solution for the efficient management of lithium‐ion batteries and plastic waste in a circular economy.
Article Details
Authors (10)
Shengming Li
School of Control Science and Engineering
Qianyue Feng
Qingye Li
State Key Laboratory of Bioinspired Interfacial Materials Science Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM) Soochow University Suzhou 215123 P.R. China
Yeping Xie
State Key Laboratory of Bioinspired Interfacial Materials Science Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM) Soochow University Suzhou 215123 P.R. China
Panpan Xu
Zhao Wang
State Key Laboratory of Bioinspired Interfacial Materials Science, State and Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for Novel Functional Polymeric Materials, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Functional Polymer Materials, Suzhou Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Design and Precision Synthesis, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Qiming Sun
Innovation Center for Chemical Science, College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Negative Carbon Technologies
Muhan Cao
Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Negative Carbon Technologies, Soochow University, 199 Ren’ai Road, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, China
Qiao Zhang
Jinxing Chen
Department of Chemistry