Charge material synthesized from recycled lithium-ion batteries

A charge material precursor having:

• nickel, manganese and cobalt (NMC) particles in a precursor form responsive to sintering with a lithium compound for forming an active charge material;
• a fluorine impurity in the NMC particles of between 0at % and 5.0at %;
• holes in the particles resulting from the fluorine impurity;
• and
• each of the particles defining a structure with a surface, the surface having nickel ions, at least 40.1% of the Ni surface ions having an oxidation state of +2.

A method of controlling an oxidation state in recycled secondary battery charge material, comprising:

• leaching NMC (Nickel, Manganese, Cobalt) charge materials from a recycling stream in a leach solution;
• controlling a pH of the leach solution through addition of a leach acid for dissolving the charge materials in the leach solution, the leach solution having a pH;
• adjusting the pH to a pH range for precipitating impurities for removal while leaving the charge materials in solution, the impurities including iron and copper;
• following the impurity removal, establishing a predetermined percentage of fluoride;
• and
• adding a strong base for precipitating charge material particles;
• the charge material particles including the NMC in a charge material precursor form for subsequent sintering with a Li compound, the precipitated charge materials having an oxidation state based on the predetermined percentage.