Recovery and utilization of graphite and polymer materials from spent lithium-ion batteries for synthesizing polymer–graphite nanocomposite thin films

• Recovered graphite and polymers used for nanocomposite thin film synthesis.
• Nanocomposite thin films were prepared by solution intercalation method.
• Mechanical stability of composite thin films is ∼10 times higher than neat films.
• Specific conductance increased to 5–6 order higher than the neat polymer thin films.

The present study focuses on the synthesis of polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) and graphite composite thin film (PE/GRx and PP/GRx) using recovered anode (graphite) and separator (polymers) materials of spent Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). The synthesized PE/GRx and PP/GRx thin films are characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetric analysis. The mechanical and electrical properties of the synthesized PP/GRx and PE/GRx composite thin films have been evaluated. The results demonstrated ∼10 times increase in tensile strength in composite thin films (PP/GR20 wt%; 33 MPa; PE/GR20 wt%; 38 MPa) as compared to neat polymer thin film (PP and PE thin film: 3.4 and 3.0 MPa). Similarly after graphite loading the specific conductance of composite films is increased 5–6 orders compared to the neat polymer thin film. The synthesis of polymer–graphite composite thin film using recovered materials of spent LIBs may effectively be used as an alternative for commercial graphite and polymer. The recovering of waste may decrease the quantity of the solid waste and reduce the potential pollution to the environment.