A Minireview on the Regeneration of NCM Cathode Material Directly from Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries with Different Cathode Chemistries

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Recycling of spent lithium-ion batteries is a hot topic in recent years. In this review paper, the authors reviewed the regeneration of NCM cathode material directly from spent lithium-ion batteries. The topic is interesting and novel as I think. However, before consideration for publication in journal of Inorganics, the following issues should be carefully addressed:

1. To enrich the research background, please cite more latest research or review papers, thus to give the readers a better understanding of this field.

2. Key issues and technical challenges of the various regeneration methods of NCM are suggested to be discussed.

3. A detailed comparison of various regeneration methods of NCM is necessary.

4. Please provide more figures on representative studies.

5. Please give some perspectives and outlooks on the NCM regeneration methods.

Author Response

Please see the attachment file.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

In this review, the authors elucidated the approaches and strategies for regenerating LiNi_xCo_yMn_zO₂ cathode materials directly from both some commonly used cathode materials and different types of mixed-cathode materials. The research progress of various regeneration methods was comprehensively summarized. Based on the analysis of the electrochemical performance data of the regenerated LiNi_xCo_yMn_zO₂ cathode materials, the superiority of such regeneration strategies was confirmed. This review is of great significance for the development of novel simplified LiNi_xCo_yMn_zO₂ regeneration processes, thus, I recommend the publication of this review in Inorganics. To make the conclusions more reliable, there are some questions need to be answer before publication:

 1 The introduction mentions that “the direct conversion of spent LIBs into new cathode materials is more environmentally friendly and techno-economically feasible than traditional recycling technologies”. Why? Please supplement a brief comparison between the two regeneration strategies (specific data or graphs).

 2 Besides electrochemical performance, please briefly analyze the advantages and disadvantages of different regeneration methods.

 3 Adding corresponding diagrams of the different regeneration methods would make the content of the references more understandable.

Author Response

Please see the attachment file.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

The manuscript has been greatly improved after revision and all the reviewer's questions have been well addressed.  It can be accepted for publication after minor revision.

1. Somewhere of the content in Table 1 can be further simplified to make it clearer.

Author Response

The authors are grateful for the reviewer's valuable comments that improved the manuscript. The content in Table 1 has been simplified in some places to make it clearer for understanding. All revisions that have been made in Table 1 of the manuscript are marked up using the “Track Changes” function in MS Word.