A Review on Regenerating Materials from Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries

Abstract

Recycling spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have attracted increasing attention for their great significance in environmental protection and cyclic resources utilization. Numerous studies focus on developing technologies for the treatment of spent LIBs. Among them, the regeneration of functional materials from spent LIBs has received great attention due to its short process route and high value-added product. This paper briefly summarizes the current status of spent LIBs recycling and details the existing processes and technologies for preparing various materials from spent LIBs. In addition, the benefits of material preparation from spent LIBs, compared with metals recovery only, are analyzed from both environmental and economic aspects. Lastly, the existing challenges and suggestions for the regeneration process are proposed.

Cathode regeneration and upcycling of spent LIBs: toward sustainability

“…Cathode recycling techniques can be classified into indirect recycling and direct regeneration. 15,[22][23][24] The former is aimed at salvaging chemical elements, such as lithium, nickel, and cobalt, using pyrometallurgy or hydrometallurgy; [25][26][27][28][29][30] the latter is dedicated to restoring the chemical composition, crystalline structure, and morphology of the cathode particles without particle destruction during processing. [31][32][33] The primary routes for the processes involved in these two recycling methods are presented in Fig.…”

Upcycling of Spent LiCoO2 Cathode to Lithium Dual‐Ion Battery Anode

“…Numerous reports are available that emphasize the criticality of cobalt and highlight the merits and demerits of various recovery approaches. [25][26][27][28][29] LCO has been upcycled [30][31][32] to different forms to find its niche in a wide range of applications, including solid lubricant additive, [33] anodes for batteries and pseudocapacitors, [34][35][36][37] photo-and electro-catalysis, etc. [38,39] Since, pristine Co 3 O 4 is well explored as electrode material for metal ion batteries, supercapacitors, and metal-air batteries, cobalt, when upcycled to its oxide form, holds great potential in numerous applications.…”

Industrial Recycling Process of Batteries for EVs

“…In addition, most of the metal elements contained in waste lithium-ion batteries are relatively scarce in my country, and imports rely on high resources, so the recycling of battery materials has extremely high environmental protection and economic value. Compared with cathode materials (LiCoO 2 [4][5][6], LiFePO 4 [7][8][9], LiNi x Co y MnzO 2 [10][11][12]) recycling, anode materials (mainly graphite) are rarely used due to their relatively low added value received attention [13][14][15][16][17]. It is worth noting that waste lithium-ion batteries contain 12% to 21% graphite [18], and countries that do not produce graphite or have low graphite reserves, such as the United States and the European Union, regard flake graphite as a key material [19,20].…”