A Review of Processes and Technologies for the Recycling of Spent Lithium-ion Batteries

Abstract

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have been widely applied in the fields of portable electronic devices and energy conversion and storage, with which a lot of spentLIBs have been produced. LIBs contain many valuable metal elements. At the same time, heavy metal elements in spent LIBs and organic compounds in electrolytes will cause serious environmental pollution. Therefore, the research on reclamation and harmless treatment of lithium-ion batteries have important strategic significance. This paper introduces the research progress of recovery and treatment technology of LIBs in recent years. Main technologies include wet recovery process, pyrometallurgical recovery process and wet electrochemical recovery process.Secondary pollution and safety concerns during these processes were also discussed.