Recovery and Recycling of Valuable Metals from Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries: A Comprehensive Review and Analysis

Abstract

The recycling of spent lithium-ion batteries (Li-ion Batteries) has drawn a lot of interest in recent years in response to the rising demand for the corresponding high-value metals and materials and the mounting concern emanating from the detrimental environmental effects imposed by the conventional disposal of solid battery waste. Numerous studies have been conducted on the topic of recycling used Li-ion batteries to produce either battery materials or specific chemical, metal or metal-based compounds. Physical pre-treatment is typically used to separate waste materials into various streams, facilitating the effective recovery of components in subsequent processing. In order to further prepare the recovered materials or compounds by applying the principles of materials chemistry and engineering, a metallurgical process is then utilized to extract and isolate pure metals or separate contaminants from a particular waste stream. In this review, the current state of spent Li-ion battery recycling is outlined, reviewed, and analyzed in the context of the entire recycling process, with a particular emphasis on hydrometallurgy; however, electrometallurgy and pyrometallurgy are also comprehensively reviewed. In addition to the comprehensive review of various hydrometallurgical processes, including alkaline leaching, acidic leaching, solvent (liquid-liquid) extraction, and chemical precipitation, a critical analysis of the current obstacles to process optimization during Li-ion battery recycling is also conducted. Moreover, the energy-intensive nature of discussed recycling process routes is also assessed and addressed. This study is anticipated to offer recommendations for enhancing wasted Li-ion battery recycling, and the field can be further explored for commercialization.

An Antisolvent Extraction Strategy for Extrusion Granulation Enhancement of Aluminum-Based Lithium Adsorbent Used in Ultrahigh Mg2+/Li+ Salt Lake Brines

“…Lithium has seen a constant increase in demand with the rapid promotion of electric vehicles and the vigorous development of energy storage technology worldwide. − Lithium recovery from brines is relatively feasible from economic and environmental considerations, which has attracted enormous interest from researchers in recent decades. − The adsorption method of extracting lithium is particularly suitable for low-lithium-grade brines with an ultrahigh Mg 2+ /Li + mass ratio that is far more than 20 because it is highly selective, simple, low cost, and environmentally friendly. − Up to date, the aluminum-based lithium adsorbents, lithium/aluminum-layered double hydroxides (Li/Al-LDHs), are the first successfully industrialized adsorbents used in brines for lithium recovery, attributing to their desorption properties without solubility loss. − Li/Al-LDHs are typical two-dimensional structures and consist of positively charged host layers formed by Al–O octahedra and linked by hydrogen bonds with anions and water molecules sandwiched. Lithium cations exist in the holes of the hydroxide layers composed of the Al–O octahedral without forming chemical bonds with other elements. , …”

Quantitative Ultrasound Spectroscopy for Screening Cylindrical Lithium‐Ion Batteries for Second‐Life Applications

“…[5,6] Since batteries are high-value assets, we must maximize the extraction of value from them during life and adopt circular economy frameworks to reduce the generation of waste and improve the use of valuable resources. [7,8] The end of life for LIBs in electric vehicles is reached at approximately 70-80 % of their State of Health (SOH) (defined as the remaining percentage of the capacity compared to the pristine state) [9] because this has been defined as a point where batteries would not satisfy the mobility needs of consumers. [10] This threshold has been revised by some authors, [11,12] but, regardless, retired LIBs from EVs present substantial opportunities for repurposing as second-life batteries (SLBs) in lower power demand applications.…”

“…The growing trend for LIBs has emphasized the need for a holistic view of their value chains [5] including battery manufacturing, primary application, battery re‐purpose, second‐life applications, recycling, and final disposal [5,6] . Since batteries are high‐value assets, we must maximize the extraction of value from them during life and adopt circular economy frameworks to reduce the generation of waste and improve the use of valuable resources [7,8] . The end of life for LIBs in electric vehicles is reached at approximately 70–80 % of their State of Health (SOH) (defined as the remaining percentage of the capacity compared to the pristine state) [9] because this has been defined as a point where batteries would not satisfy the mobility needs of consumers [10] .…”

Current Situation and Development Prospects of Discharge Pretreatment during Recycling of Lithium‐ion Batteries: A Review

“…The vast majority of lithium-ion battery recycling reviews mainly describe the Li-ion batteries recycling process, and these reviews mainly focus on the economy in the recycling process, the resource recycling processing process, and the development of basic theories and the latest research results. [2,4,7,9,[11][12][13] Take the studies of the recycling and reuse of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and conducted an overall analysis of the entire recycling system of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles. [2] Lv et al made a critical analysis of the existing hydrometallurgical process, which covered with emphasized the secondary pollution problem in the hydrometallurgical process, as well as the risk of transition metal ion waste and waste acid pollution of groundwater and soil environment.…”

“…It can be seen that the recovery of lithium‐ion batteries is of great significance, and the discharge pretreatment process also plays a crucial role in the process of lithium‐ion battery recovery. The vast majority of lithium‐ion battery recycling reviews mainly describe the Li‐ion batteries recycling process, and these reviews mainly focus on the economy in the recycling process, the resource recycling processing process, and the development of basic theories and the latest research results [2,4,7,9,11–13] …”