Development of Plasmonic Attapulgite/Co(Ti)O x Nanocomposite Using Spent Batteries toward Photothermal Reduction of CO 2 .

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 x (H-ATP/Co(Ti)O x ) nanocomposites were prepared by the microwave hydrothermal technique. H-ATP had a large specific surface area and enough active sites to capture CO 2 molecules. The biochar not only reduced the spinel phase of waste LIBs into metal oxides including Co 3 O 4 and TiO 2 but also increased the separation and transmission of the carriers, thereby accelerating the adsorption and reduction of CO 2 . In addition, H-ATP/Co(Ti)O x 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 2 with a high CO yield of 14.7 μmol·g -1 ·h -1 . The current work demonstrates the potential for CO 2 reduction by taking advantage of natural mineral and spent batteries.