Materials recovery from NMC batteries with water as the sole solvent.

We report an environmentally benign recycling approach for large-capacity nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) batteries through the electrochemical concentration of lithium on the anode and subsequent recovery with only water. Cycling of the NMC pouch cells indicated the potential for maximum lithium recovery at a 5C charging rate. The anodes extracted from discharged and disassembled cells were submerged in deionized water, resulting in lithium dissolution and graphite recovery from the copper foils.