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Advanced Battery Materials: Preparation, Optimization and Recycling

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 August 2026 | Viewed by 802

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Shaanxi Key Laboratory of New Transportation Energy and Automotive Energy Saving, School of Energy and Electrical Engineering, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710061, China
Interests: lithium-ion batteries; sodium/potassium-ion batteries; aqueous zinc-ion batteries; DFT

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Guest Editor
Shaanxi University Engineering Research Center of Transportation New Energy Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710061, China
Interests: lithium-ion battery; sodium-ion battery; zinc-ion battery; three-dimensional porous current collector; electrochemical synthesis

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Advanced battery technologies employ diverse electrode materials, electrolytes, and additives. For critical applications in electric vehicles, portable electronics, and energy storage systems, the focus lies on high-capacity cathodes, durable anodes, and novel electrolytes. These encompass transition metal oxides, carbon-based materials, solid-state electrolytes, and multifunctional composites featuring intricate microstructures, such as nanostructured coatings and conductive polymer blends.

Analyzing these materials—characterized by varied properties, morphologies, and sizes (e.g., lithium-ion battery electrodes)—requires consideration of electrode–electrolyte interfaces under diverse operating conditions, including charge–discharge cycles, temperature extremes, mechanical stress, and voltage fluctuations.

Advanced battery materials must satisfy multiple performance criteria: high energy and power density, long cycle life, good rate capability, thermal stability, and safety. Equally important are non-performance factors like cost-effectiveness, environmental impact, resource availability, ease of synthesis, and recyclability.

This Special Issue aims to elucidate the fundamental principles governing material synthesis, performance optimization, and recycling processes. Crucially, macroscopic properties such as energy storage capacity and cycle stability are governed by underlying mechanisms operating across multiple sub-observational scales. Understanding how these mechanisms dictate performance and recyclability is essential for analyzing existing materials and designing improved, innovative alternatives.

Multiscale modelling, which bridges or simultaneously accounts for nano-, micro-, and macro-scale phenomena, is particularly valuable for advanced battery materials due to its well-defined hierarchical structure across these levels.

Dr. Weijia Meng
Dr. Xiaoyong Fan
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • advanced battery materials
  • multiscale modeling
  • electrode-electrolyte interfaces
  • performance optimization
  • material synthesis
  • recycling processes
  • energy density
  • cycle stability
  • solid-state electrolytes
  • transition metal oxides

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

15 pages, 5147 KB  
Article
Experimental Research on the Ecological Recovery of Metals from Used Ni-MH Batteries
by Valeriu Gabriel Ghica, Florin Miculescu, Ana Vasile, Narcis Daniel Saftere, Angelos P. Markopoulos, Șener Karabulut, Mircea Ionuț Petrescu, Eugenia Tanasă and Anca Icleanu
Materials 2025, 18(24), 5549; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18245549 - 10 Dec 2025
Viewed by 487
Abstract
The presented research is focused on identifying a cheap and environmentally friendly solution for recovering useful non-ferrous metals contained in used Ni-MH batteries—more specifically, in batteries that power medical equipment, i.e., portable defibrillators. The cathodic paste of Ni-MH batteries contains Ni(OH)2 as [...] Read more.
The presented research is focused on identifying a cheap and environmentally friendly solution for recovering useful non-ferrous metals contained in used Ni-MH batteries—more specifically, in batteries that power medical equipment, i.e., portable defibrillators. The cathodic paste of Ni-MH batteries contains Ni(OH)2 as an active material to which Zn, Co and Mn can be added. The paste is impregnated into a support mesh made of nickel. The anodic paste of Ni-MH batteries contains mixtures of rare earths capable of storing the released hydrogen. The paste is mixed with a binder and pressed onto a metal grid made of nickel alloy. After manual disassembly, the components of the Ni-MH batteries were analyzed by X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (XRF) before and after the separation/recovery operation. To separate the cathode and anode paste from the metal supports (grids, metal meshes), an ultrasonic bath with appropriate solutions was used, and the optimal working parameters were established. The recovery of the anode paste was achieved by completely passing the rare earths into the citric acid solution used for ultrasonication; the nickel mesh was cleaned of the Ni(OH)2 paste using water as the ultrasonication medium. After separation from the metal supports, the anode and cathode pastes were analyzed and characterized by XRF, optical and electron microscopy (SEM, EDX). The results obtained are of real interest for those who study the recycling of Ni-MH batteries; the use of ultrasound in a low-concentration citric acid environment for the purpose of recovering rare earths can be an economic and ecological alternative for battery recycling. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Battery Materials: Preparation, Optimization and Recycling)
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