An Efficient Upcycling Method for Preparing Nickel‐Rich NCM From Waste Nickel‐Poor NCM

With the transition from traditional fuel vehicles to electric vehicles, the number of lithium‐ion batteries continues to surge, and the consequent problem of waste lithium‐ion batteries is also emerging. At the same time, in order to achieve the high range of electric vehicles, there is a growing demand for lithium‐ion batteries with high energy density. Therefore, how to upgrade waste lithium‐ion batteries into cathode materials with higher energy density has become the main research hotspot in the repair process. Here, we have developed an upcycling method that combines hydrometallurgy and direct regeneration. Mixed organic acids were used to efficiently leach waste NCM111, and then nickel was added in the coprecipitation process, and finally NCM111 was upgraded to NCM622 by a high‐temperature solid‐phase method. The upgraded NCM622 achieves a first discharge specific capacity of 172.51 mAh g ⁻¹ at 0.1 C and still has a capacity retention rate of 89.4% after 100 cycles at 1 C, which is very close to the commercial NCM622.