Recycling End-of-Life Electric Vehicle Lithium-Ion Batteries

Abstract

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) play a significant role in our highly electrified world and will continue to lead technology innovations. Millions of vehicles are equipped with or directly powered by LIBs, mitigating environmental pollution and reducing energy use. This rapidly increasing use of LIBs in vehicles will introduce a large quantity of spent LIBs within an 8-10-year span. Proper handling of endof-life (EOL) vehicle LIBs is required, and multiple options should be considered. This paper demonstrates that the necessity for EOL recycling is underpinned by leveraging fluctuating material costs, uneven distribution and production, and the transport situation. From a life-cycle perspective, remanufacturing and repurposing extend the life of LIBs, and industrial demonstrations indicate that this is feasible. Recycling is the ultimate option for handling EOL LIBs, and recent advancements both in research and industry regarding pyrometallurgical, hydrometallurgical, and direct recycling are summarized. Currently, none of the current battery recycling technologies is ideal, and challenges must be overcome. This article is anticipated as a starting point for a more sophisticated study of recycling, and it suggests potential improvements in the process through mutual efforts from academia, industry, and governments.

Recycling Chain for Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries

“…Depollution), both the collection and transport of LIBs require special measures against short circuits and leakage of the electrolyte [46]. The classification of spent lithium-ion batteries as a hazardous good [13] demands special transport containers, warning signs, and packaging [46][47][48][49][50][51][52]. Therefore, the waste logistics cause a significant share of the total cost in battery recycling due to the high safety requirements and the resulting low specific transport weight [53].…”

“…Since their market launch in 1990, the energy and power densities of LIBs increased continuously and new areas of application have been opened up [12]. This led to a high and still increasing variety of battery types with different material compositions [13]. In this initial stage, robust pyrometallurgical recycling technologies are mainly used on industrial scale for waste treatment.…”

“…Figure 6B)-p-h)/or hydrometallurgical (cf. Figure 6B)-h) refining • low temperature route (often called direct recycling process [13]) with electrical and no/or cryogenic depollution, multistage processing, and hydrometallurgical refining (cf. Figure 6C)-n; n ≥ 1)…”

“…Figure 6B)-p-h)/or hydrometallurgical (cf. Figure 6B)-h) refining • low temperature route (often called direct recycling process [13]) with electrical and no/or cryogenic depollution, multistage processing, and hydrometallurgical refining (cf. Figure 6C)-n; n ≥ 1) In general, the material, characterized by the arrows with continuous lines, flows top down through the different process stages and unit processes transforming spent batteries into secondary (raw) materials, emissions, and waste.…”

“…Nevertheless, It can be stated that the possible overall recycling efficiency decreases with higher process temperatures due to the decomposition of organic components and later due to the downgrading of metals like aluminum and manganese into slag. A detailed discussion of the different process routes is presented by Harper et al [9], Lv et al [6], Chen et al [13], and Pinegar and Smith [7]. Nevertheless, an overall quantitate process analysis for the three main and other industrial recycling technologies in respect to recycling efficiency, energy, and auxiliary material consumption are scarce in the literature [101].…”