Recycling of lithium liquid in energy storage power stations

Why is lithium recycling important?

Lithium recycling from spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) plays an important role in global lithium resource utilization and supply. The ever-increasing demand for the high-performance rechargeable LIBs increasingly accelerates the use of lithium sources and the production of spent batteries.

Are lithium ion batteries recyclable?

Remaining issues regarding each recycling method are discussed. The future recycling system of LIBs is proposed. As the number of spent lithium ion batteries (LIBs) increases, their recycling has become of great significance in order to conserve resources and limit the environmental impact.

What are the reuse and recycling pathways of lithium-ion batteries?

Fig. 1: Reuse and recycling pathways considering economic and environmental functions. Our method encompasses the system boundaries of the lithium-ion battery life cycle, namely, cradle-to-grave, incorporating new battery production, first use, refurbishment, reuse, and end-of-life (EOL) stages.

How to reuse waste lithium-ion batteries?

The reuse of waste lithium-ion batteries can be divided into two major approaches: second-life utilization and recycling. In second-life utilization technology, it is usually necessary to diagnose the aging state of waste lithium batteries.

When should a battery be disposed of a spent lithium ion (Lib)?

The large number of spent LIBs requires suitable disposal when the electric vehicles reach the end of their lives. The spent LIBs are valuable secondary resources for LIB-based battery industries; for example, the lithium content in spent LIBs (5–7 wt%) is much higher than that in natural resources 4.

Does recycling lithium ion batteries reduce environmental impacts?

In the Stanford battery recycling study mentioned above, the authors say recycling lithium-ion batteries to recover their critical metals has significantly lower environmental impacts than mining virgin metals.