The production of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is increasing rapidly because of their outstanding physicochemical properties, which ultimately leads to an increasing amount of spent lithium-ion batteries reaching their end-of-life (EOL). Pretreatment of the discarded batteries is an indispensable part of recycling spent lithium-ion batteries. The batteries contain toxic chemicals and high-value metals that must be recycled to promote environmental protection and sustainability. This paper provides an overview of the current pretreatment methods employed in the recycling of spent LIBs. In particular, the article reviews various options (mechanical, chemical, and thermal pretreatment options) that can be adopted for the pretreatment of spent lithium-ion batteries and puts forward the recommendations for future research and development that will enable more efficient and cleaner technologies for recycling spent LIBs. The review emphasizes the safe pretreatment of the spent LIBs and provides an overview of the consequences of the individual pretreatment steps on the recyclability of the materials to be recovered, and LiCoO₂ was chosen as the reference as most studies in the literature focus on LiCoO₂ cathode materials. However, discussions on other battery chemistries have also been incorporated into the scope of the review.

锂离子电池 (LIB) 的产量由于其出色的物理化学特性而迅速增加，最终导致越来越多的废锂离子电池达到使用寿命 (EOL)。废旧电池的预处理是废旧锂离子电池回收利用不可缺少的环节。电池含有有毒化学物质和高价值金属，必须回收利用以促进环境保护和可持续发展。本文概述了当前用于回收废 LIB 的预处理方法。特别是，文章回顾了各种选项（机械、化学、和热预处理选项），可用于废锂离子电池的预处理，并为未来的研究和开发提出建议，以实现更高效、更清洁的废锂离子电池回收技术。该评论强调了废锂离子电池的安全预处理，并概述了各个预处理步骤对待回收材料的可回收性的影响，以及 LiCoO选择₂作为参考，因为文献中的大多数研究都集中在 LiCoO ₂正极材料上。然而，对其他电池化学物质的讨论也被纳入审查范围。