Upcycling of Cathode Materials from Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries: Progress, Challenges, and Outlook

Abstract

With the growing popularity of electronic devices and electric vehicles, the number of spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is increasing dramatically. It is a promising and sustainable strategy to recycle transition metal resources from cathodes of spent LIBs to prepare functional materials for energy storage and conversion systems. This review summarizes the recycling and upcycling of cathode materials from spent LIBs, especially the upcycling, an alternative route to direct regeneration. Multicomponent transition metal-based materials are reported to be promising effective catalysts with the merits of good electrochemical reactivity and excellent stability. The regeneration of metal-based materials from spent cathodes for catalysts are summarized, with an emphasis on oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts for water-splitting and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR)/OER bifunctional catalysts for Zn–air batteries. Subsequently, we review in detail the upcycling of valuable components from spent cathodes to prepare electrode materials for supercapacitors. Finally, it concludes with challenges and an outlook to ensure long-term sustainability of battery industry.

2023 Pioneers in Energy Research: Shizhang Qiao

“…Basic comprehension of the mechanism, scientific obstacles, and solutions to electrolyte limitations are covered. Zheng et al presented a review on the upcycling of transition metal from spent lithium-ion batteries to promising effective catalysts for various reactions, such as water electrolysis, or even to produce electrode materials for supercapacitors. Dendrite growth and volume change of lithium metal anodes are prone to cause safety hazards; therefore, He et al developed Li–B–Cu composite anodes with a three-dimensional (3D) skeleton structure to inhibit the growth of lithium dendrites.…”

Highly Selective Extraction of Lithium from Spent NCM Cathode Powder Reconstructive Electrode by Acid-Free Electrochemical Process

“…While lithium-ion batteries provide immense convenience to our daily lives and industrial production, the large number of end-of-life batteries leads to even more serious problems such as resource waste and environmental pollution. 11,12 Consequently, it is crucial to investigate the effective extraction of valuable metals from spent LIBs to facilitate their reuse and mitigate environmental pollution resulting from inappropriate disposal.…”

“…The limited use of traditional fossil energy sources and the resulting pollution have compelled people to explore alternative energy sources to meet the growing energy demands of humanity. − Lithium-ion batteries boast numerous benefits, such as high specific energy, high working voltage, a wide working temperature range, and long storage life. − These advantages have led to their widespread use in electric vehicles, electronic products, and energy storage. , With the rapid development of lithium-ion battery applications in electric vehicles, the production of lithium-ion batteries has grown rapidly in recent years. , However, the service life of lithium-ion batteries is finite. While lithium-ion batteries provide immense convenience to our daily lives and industrial production, the large number of end-of-life batteries leads to even more serious problems such as resource waste and environmental pollution. , Consequently, it is crucial to investigate the effective extraction of valuable metals from spent LIBs to facilitate their reuse and mitigate environmental pollution resulting from inappropriate disposal.…”