ArticleNature communications2026
Effective recycling of spent lithium-ion batteries via radiolytic radical reactions.
Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
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Abstract
The rapidly growing volume of spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) poses an urgent recycling challenge, as conventional pyro-/hydro-metallurgical methods remain inefficient and require harsh operating conditions. Herein, we develop an efficient, pilot-scale radiation-driven leaching strategy for processing kilogram quantities of spent ternary cathode material dispersed in aqueous citric acid. In minutes, ambient and controllable electron beam irradiation achieves near-complete (>99%) leaching of valuable transition metals and lithium. Mechanistic studies reveal that the hydrated electrons and citric acid-derived radicals generated jointly during water radiolysis drive rapid cathode amorphization by reducing high-valence metal centers and cleaving metal-oxygen bonds. Concurrently, direct irradiation induces lattice defects and oxygen vacancies, synergistically enhancing amorphization and strengthening radical-metal site coupling, thereby accelerating dissolution. Furthermore, the leachate is repurposed into effective cathode materials and oxygen evolution reaction catalysts, enabling an economically viable closed-loop recycling process. Energy efficiency and techno-economic analyses indicate that industrial-scale radiation technology offers a practical solution for scalable spent LIB recycling.
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Registered trials
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