Development of Plasmonic Attapulgite/Co(Ti)O Nanocomposite Using Spent Batteries toward Photothermal Reduction of CO.

The rapid development of the battery industry has brought about a large amount of waste battery pollution. How to realize the high-value utilization of waste batteries is an urgent problem to be solved. Herein, cobalt and titanium compounds (LTCO) were firstly recovered from spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) using the carbon thermal reduction approach, and plasmonic attapulgite/Co(Ti)O (H-ATP/Co(Ti)O) nanocomposites were prepared by the microwave hydrothermal technique. H-ATP had a large specific surface area and enough active sites to capture CO molecules. The biochar not only reduced the spinel phase of waste LIBs into metal oxides including CoO and TiO but also increased the separation and transmission of the carriers, thereby accelerating the adsorption and reduction of CO. In addition, H-ATP/Co(Ti)O exhibited a localized surface plasmon resonance effect (LSPR) in the visible to near-infrared region and released high-energy hot electrons, enhancing the surface temperature of the catalyst and further improving the catalytic reduction of CO with a high CO yield of 14.7 μmol·g·h. The current work demonstrates the potential for CO reduction by taking advantage of natural mineral and spent batteries.