Progress, Key Issues, and Future Prospects for Li‐Ion Battery Recycling

Abstract The overuse and exploitation of fossil fuels has triggered the energy crisis and caused tremendous issues for the society. Lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs), as one of the most important renewable energy storage technologies, have experienced booming progress, especially with the drastic growth of electric vehicles. To avoid massive mineral mining and the opening of new mines, battery recycling to extract valuable species from spent LIBs is essential for the development of renewable energy. Therefore, LIBs recycling needs to be widely promoted/applied and the advanced recycling technology with low energy consumption, low emission, and green reagents needs to be highlighted. In this review, the necessity for battery recycling is first discussed from several different aspects. Second, the various LIBs recycling technologies that are currently used, such as pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical methods, are summarized and evaluated. Then, based on the challenges of the above recycling methods, the authors look further forward to some of the cutting‐edge recycling technologies, such as direct repair and regeneration. In addition, the authors also discuss the prospects of selected recycling strategies for next‐generation LIBs such as solid‐state Li‐metal batteries. Finally, overall conclusions and future perspectives for the sustainability of energy storage devices are presented in the last chapter.