Constructing High-Performance Cobalt-Based Environmental Catalysts from Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries: Unveiling Overlooked Roles of Copper and Aluminum from Current Collectors.

Converting spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) cathode materials into environmental catalysts has drawn more and more attention. Herein, we fabricated a Co ₃ O ₄ -based catalyst from spent LiCoO ₂ LIBs (Co ₃ O ₄ -LIBs) and found that the role of Al and Cu from current collectors on its performance is nonnegligible. The density functional theory calculations confirmed that the doping of Al and/or Cu upshifts the d-band center of Co. A Fenton-like reaction based on peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation was adopted to evaluate its activity. Interestingly, Al doping strengthened chemisorption for PMS (from -2.615 eV to -2.623 eV) and shortened Co-O bond length (from 2.540 Å to 2.344 Å) between them, whereas Cu doping reduced interfacial charge-transfer resistance (from 28.347 kΩ to 6.689 kΩ) excepting for the enhancement of the above characteristics. As expected, the degradation activity toward bisphenol A of Co ₃ O ₄ -LIBs (0.523 min ^-1 ) was superior to that of Co ₃ O ₄ prepared from commercial CoC ₂ O ₄ (0.287 min ^-1 ). Simultaneously, the reasons for improved activity were further verified by comparing activity with catalysts doped Al and/or Cu into Co ₃ O ₄ . This work reveals the role of elements from current collectors on the performance of functional materials from spent LIBs, which is beneficial to the sustainable utilization of spent LIBs.
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