Toward sustainable and systematic recycling of spent rechargeable batteries

Abstract

Ever-growing global energy needs and environmental damage have motivated the pursuit of sustainable energy sources and storage technologies. As attractive energy storage technologies to integrate renewable resources and electric transportation, rechargeable batteries, including lead-acid, nickel-metal hydride, nickel-cadmium, and lithium-ion batteries, are undergoing unprecedented rapid development. However, the intrinsic toxicity of rechargeable batteries arising from their use of toxic materials is potentially environmentally hazardous. Additionally, the massive production of batteries consumes numerous resources, some of which are scarce. It is therefore essential to consider battery recycling when developing battery systems. Here, we provide a systematic overview of rechargeable battery recycling from a sustainable perspective. We present state-of-the-art fundamental research and industrial technologies related to battery recycling, with a special focus on lithium-ion battery recycling. We introduce the concept of sustainability through a discussion of the life-cycle assessment of battery recycling. Considering the forecasted trend of a massive number of retired power batteries from the forecasted surge in electric vehicles, their repurposing and reuse are considered from economic, technical, environmental, and market perspectives. New opportunities, challenges, and future prospects for battery recycling are then summarized. A reinterpreted 3R strategy entailing redesign, reuse, and recycling is recommended for the future development of battery recycling.

Phosphorus‐Doping‐Induced Surface Vacancies of 3D Na2Ti3O7 Nanowire Arrays Enabling High‐Rate and Long‐Life Sodium Storage

“…. Among them, due to their advantageous energy density and cycling life, LIBs have been widely used in electric cars, laptops, cellular telephones, and other fields . However, the relatively high cost and scarcity of lithium resources limit its application in large‐scale energy storage systems .…”

Transformation of Spent Li‐Ion Battery in to High Energy Supercapacitors in Asymmetric Configuration

“…Thus forming metal acetates ((Co(CH 3 COOH) 2 and Mn(CH 3 COOH) 2 )) assembles linearly in aqueous solution to fabricate the mixed metal carbonate in the form of polydisperse solid spheres. Without employing any other surfactants, the acetate anions play as the surfactant in the process to congregate transition metal cations in the solvent (i. e., distilled water) thereby tend to attract the outmost hydrophobic acetate anions.…”

“…[7] As well, other increasing demands of consumer electronics could continue in future which is predominantly based on the LIBs. [1][2] In that, the global cathode market is predicted to reach $58.8 billion by 2024 from the $5.1 billion market in 2017 [8] as the increasing demand of LIBs year by year. on Al foil, anode grips the graphite paste on Cu foil and the polyolefins such as polypropylene or polyethylene are the separators.…”

“…Especially, the price of critical element Co in LIBs has rocketed from $32500 to $81000 for one tonne during the year of 2018 to March 2018 due to the increased energy demand of 709 GWh by 2026 in the battery sector. [1][2] Recently, the researcher's effort unlocks the innovative cost-effective way to reuse anode material of spent LIBs for the easy preparation of graphene and also for other applications including energy storage. [12] Globally, a few numbers of industries like Umicore, Sumitomo-Sony, Inmetco and Accurec GmbH are recycling the tons of spent LIBs per annum via employing the hydrometallurgical and pyrometallurgical or combination of both methods to recover the metals, mostly Co. [1,13] In some cases, the pyrometallurgical process failed to recover the Mn effectively from the slag even though having the benefits of the shorter procedure and higher handling capacity compared to the hydrometallurgical process.…”

Burgeoning Prospects of Spent Lithium‐Ion Batteries in Multifarious Applications

“…[1][2][3][4] The rising demand for EV and the low accessibility to raw materials are threatening the LIBs production and urge the instant necessity of recycling to employ the valuable materials. [1,2,[16][17][18]20,22,[33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42] In this review, we discuss first time in detail about the reutilization of spent LIBs materials/recovered materials in various fields including LIB, supercapacitors, oxygen evolution reaction (OER), adsorption, photocatalytic studies, etc. [27,28] In chemical process, researchers mostly prefer hydrometallurgical route for the recycling of spent LIBs attributable to the great advantages such as low energy conditions, minimization of waste water, and higher percentage recovery of metals with high purity.…”