Recycling of Lithium Batteries—A Review

Abstract

With the rapid development of the electric vehicle industry in recent years, the use of lithium batteries is growing rapidly. From 2015 to 2040, the production of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles could reach 0.33 to 4 million tons. It is predicted that a total of 21 million end-of-life lithium battery packs will be generated between 2015 and 2040. Spent lithium batteries can cause pollution to the soil and seriously threaten the safety and property of people. They contain valuable metals, such as cobalt and lithium, which are nonrenewable resources, and their recycling and treatment have important economic, strategic, and environmental benefits. Estimations show that the weight of spent electric vehicle lithium-ion batteries will reach 500,000 tons in 2020. Methods for safely and effectively recycling lithium batteries to ensure they provide a boost to economic development have been widely investigated. This paper summarizes the recycling technologies for lithium batteries discussed in recent years, such as pyrometallurgy, acid leaching, solvent extraction, electrochemical methods, chlorination technology, ammoniation technology, and combined recycling, and presents some views on the future research direction of lithium batteries.