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Circular Economy 2022, 1(2): 100012 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cec.2022.100012
Review Article | Open Access | Issue | Published: 16 September 2022

Recycling spent lithium-ion batteries using a mechanochemical approach

Show Author's Information Mengmeng Wanga,1,  Kang Liua,1,  Jiadong Yua,  Cong-Cong Zhangb,c,  Zhiyuan Zhangb,c,  Quanyin Tana( )
State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China
Department of Solid Waste Treatment and Recycling, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, China
Department of Resource and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

1 The authors contributed equally to this work, and their current workplace is Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China.

Keywords:
Green chemistry, Recycling, Spent lithium-ion batteries, Mechanochemical technology, Critical metals
Cite this article:
Wang M, Liu K, Yu J, et al. Recycling spent lithium-ion batteries using a mechanochemical approach. Circular Economy, 2022, 1(2): 100012. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cec.2022.100012
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Abstract Full text About this article

Under the goal of global sustainable development, the new energy vehicle industry is evolving rapidly, leading to a proliferation of spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). The recycling of LIBs is key to the sustainable development of the new energy industry, which is consistent with the concept of circular economy as well. And the green extraction of critical metals is the core part of the development. As an alternative to traditional pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy, emerging mechanochemical technology provides a new approach for high efficiency and green recycling of critical metals from spent LIBs, as it has the advantages of easy operation, flexibility, and short processing time. This article reviews the state of the art of mechanochemical technology in the recycling of critical metals from spent LIBs. Based on numerous practices, a framework including mechanochemical activation, organic reaction, inorganic reaction, redox reaction, gas-solid reaction, and solid-phase synthesis was constructed. These practices have proved that mechanochemical technology can provide a greener and more sustainable solution for recycling critical metals from spent LIBs. The metals can be transformed into high-value metal products at room temperature and under ordinary pressure, leading to efficient recycling of critical metals and significant reduction of wastes.


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About this article

Recycling spent lithium-ion batteries using a mechanochemical approach

Show Author's information Mengmeng Wanga,1, Kang Liua,1, Jiadong Yua, Cong-Cong Zhangb,c, Zhiyuan Zhangb,c, Quanyin Tana( )
State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China
Department of Solid Waste Treatment and Recycling, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, China
Department of Resource and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

1 The authors contributed equally to this work, and their current workplace is Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China.

Abstract

Under the goal of global sustainable development, the new energy vehicle industry is evolving rapidly, leading to a proliferation of spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). The recycling of LIBs is key to the sustainable development of the new energy industry, which is consistent with the concept of circular economy as well. And the green extraction of critical metals is the core part of the development. As an alternative to traditional pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy, emerging mechanochemical technology provides a new approach for high efficiency and green recycling of critical metals from spent LIBs, as it has the advantages of easy operation, flexibility, and short processing time. This article reviews the state of the art of mechanochemical technology in the recycling of critical metals from spent LIBs. Based on numerous practices, a framework including mechanochemical activation, organic reaction, inorganic reaction, redox reaction, gas-solid reaction, and solid-phase synthesis was constructed. These practices have proved that mechanochemical technology can provide a greener and more sustainable solution for recycling critical metals from spent LIBs. The metals can be transformed into high-value metal products at room temperature and under ordinary pressure, leading to efficient recycling of critical metals and significant reduction of wastes.

Keywords: Green chemistry, Recycling, Spent lithium-ion batteries, Mechanochemical technology, Critical metals

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Publication history

Received: 29 June 2022
Revised: 18 August 2022
Accepted: 22 August 2022
Published: 16 September 2022
Issue date: December 2022

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© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Tsinghua University Press.

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Acknowledegments

The authors appreciate the financial support from the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2019YFC1908504) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51908318, 71804085).

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This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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