A systematic review of valuable resource recovery from spent lithium-ion battery cathodes: Technologies, challenges, and future trends

This review systematically summarizes the current research status and development trends in the recovery of valuable resources from spent lithium-ion battery (SLIB) cathodes, aiming to elucidate key technological pathways, research hotspots, and future challenges in this field. By conducting a bibliometric analysis of the field of valuable resource recovery from SLIBs, combined with an in-depth analysis of pretreatment, cascade utilization, and various regeneration technologies—including hydrometallurgy, pyrometallurgy, bioleaching, direct regeneration, electrochemical methods, and ionic liquid-based recovery—this review reveals that although significant progress has been made in current recovery processes, they still generally face challenges such as high energy consumption, low metal recovery efficiency, severe secondary pollution, and difficulties in scaling up. Future recovery technologies for valuable resources from SLIBs should be oriented towards green and low-carbon development, intelligent systems, and systematic approaches. Through multi-technology integration, process optimization, and the establishment of closed-loop systems, it is possible to achieve efficient recovery of critical metals and sustainable management of the entire battery life cycle. This review is expected to provide systematic solutions for resource recycling and environmental protection.