Pyrometallurgical Technology in the Recycling of a Spent Lithium Ion Battery: Evolution and the Challenge

Abstract

The rapid development of the electric vehicle industry has spurred the prosperity of the lithium ion battery market, but the subsequent huge number of spent lithium ion batteries (SLIBs) may bring severe environmental problems. Because of the advantages of low raw material requirements and little waste liquid production, pyrometallurgical technology is suitable for recycling SLIBs in large-scale industrial applications. After decades of research, the practice of pyrometallurgical technology in related fields has developed a lot. There are three essential components of SLIBs, namely, binders and electrolytes, cathode, and anode. This article summarizes the development of pyrometallurgical technologies in dealing with these three parts and analyzes the strengths as well as weaknesses of each technology. Moreover, it reveals the evolution and the challenges of pyrometallurgical technology in recycling SLIBs. A high-value utilization with the characteristics of an overall resource utilization of waste batteries is a promising development direction for pyrometallurgical technology.

Lithium Harvesting from the Most Abundant Primary and Secondary Sources: A Comparative Study on Conventional and Membrane Technologies

“…Both mechanical and thermal treatment methods have the advantages of being straightforward and convenient, however, suffer from producing hazardous chemicals (Table 1) [135]. Even though most pre-treatment processes have successfully been applied in different industries across the world, there are still great developments to be researched to improve the process.…”

“…Pyro-metallurgical processes work on the principle of high-temperature smelting, typically in the presence of a reducing agent (e.g., coke) [135]. Normally, these processes do not require pre-treatment and the spent LIBs are directly added to the smelting furnace where they are heated beyond their melting point.…”

Photocatalytic Materials Obtained from E-Waste Recycling: Review, Techniques, Critique, and Update

“…Improving efficiency by these methods requires the repetition of the procedure in some subsequent steps leading to a very high energy consumption. Another significant weakness of pyrometallurgy methods is that they are not environmentally friendly at all and usually lead to a high amount of pollutant emissions, mostly carbon dioxide and sulfides [174,175].…”

Preparation of single-crystal ternary cathode materials via recycling spent cathodes for high performance lithium-ion batteries

“…21,22 Nevertheless, due to its poor adaptability, slow leaching speed and strict leaching conditions, its application in industrialization has been greatly hindered. 23,24 Hence, it is significant to explore economical and effective routes to recycle waste LIBs and make full use of the recycled materials.…”