Defect enhanced CoMnNiOx catalysts derived from spent ternary lithium-ion batteries for low-temperature propane oxidation

Herein, a feasible strategy was reported to reuse the waste ternary lithium-ion batteries (TLIBs) as precursors to develop efficient CoMnNiOx catalysts for propane oxidation. Interestingly, the T90 value of the defect enhanced-CoMnNiOx catalyst for propane oxidation was only 200 °C. The de-aluminum and de-lithium process generated by the alkaline etching promoted the increase of the oxygen vacancy defects, which was confirmed by ICP-OES, XPS, EPR and DFT calculations. At the atomic level, the oxygen vacancies near the aluminum and lithium vacancies (NiO-Alv-Ov and NiO-Liv-Ov) were more likely to promote the activation of oxygen molecules. Furthermore, it was observed that the reducibility, acidity and lattice oxygen mobility of the defective CoMnNiOx catalyst were boosted by the presence of abundant oxygen vacancy defects, and thus enhancing the catalytic activity. Remarkably, the TLIBs recycling and defect enhancement engineering are conducive for the development of the green and efficient catalysts for VOCs oxidation.