ABSTRACT

At the end of their efficient functionality in energy production/storage applications, spent lithium-ion batteries need to be recycled. Recycling remains the most preferred economic option with benefits such as prevention/reduction of environmental issues due to landfilling and more efficient use of natural resources. In this paper, characteristics of lithium-ion battery components before and after being spent are presented, together with highlights of various extractive options suitable for recycling. The main emphasis of this review is on the direct recycling approach, which employs the physical separation of anode and cathode materials. Since flotation is the most common processing method successfully applied to the physical separation of minerals in the mining industry, researchers have given a lot of attention to this area. The success of recycling by flotation is mainly dependent on wettability differences between the anode (hydrophobic) and cathode (hydrophilic) components. However, such components are subjected to surface modifications due to the intimate organic coating introduced in battery production. As such, the hydrophobic entities of the solid electrolyte in battery assembly, which are so essential for the electrochemical functionality of the battery during its life cycle, present main challenges on the selectivity of flotation as a recycling option. Thus, the restoration of the original hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity level of each electrode has been the main focus area for many investigations. This paper also provides an up-to-date review of proposed pretreatment options.

摘要

在能源生产/存储应用中的高效功能结束时，废旧锂离子电池需要回收利用。回收利用仍然是最受青睐的经济选择，其好处包括防止/减少由于填埋造成的环境问题以及更有效地利用自然资源。本文介绍了锂离子电池组件废弃前后的特性，以及适合回收利用的各种提取方案的亮点。本综述的主要重点是直接回收方法，该方法采用阳极和阴极材料的物理分离。由于浮选是采矿业中成功应用于矿物物理分离的最常见的处理方法，因此研究人员对该领域给予了大量关注。浮选回收的成功主要取决于阳极（疏水）和阴极（亲水）组分之间的润湿性差异。然而，由于在电池生产中引入了紧密的有机涂层，此类组件会进行表面改性。因此，电池组件中固体电解质的疏水实体对电池在其生命周期中的电化学功能至关重要，这对浮选作为回收选择的选择性提出了主要挑战。因此，恢复每个电极的原始疏水性/亲水性水平一直是许多研究的主要重点领域。本文还对拟议的预处理方案进行了最新审查。