Toward Sustainable Reuse of Retired Lithium-ion Batteries from Electric Vehicles

• Published in: Resources, conservation and recycling conservation and recycling, 2021-05, Vol.168, p.105249, Article 105249
• Main Authors: Hua, Yang, Liu, Xinhua, Zhou, Sida, Huang, Yi, Ling, Heping, Yang, Shichun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Battery recycling; Battery reuse; Electric vehicle; Lithium-ion battery; Second life
• ISSN: 0921-3449; 1879-0658
• DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.105249

•Systematically elaborate and compare the current mainstream management methods for dealing with retired batteries.•Present state-of-the-art academia and industry improvement based on pyro-, hydro-, bio-hydrometallurgical, and direct recycling process.•Present a thorough investigation on the key technical challenges and other obstacles of lithium-ion battery reuse.•Highlights future development trends–artificial intelligence and cloud technologies will be integrated into the management of retired batteries. As attractive energy storage technologies, Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have been widely integrated in renewable resources and electric vehicles (EVs) due to their advantages such as high energy/power densities, high reliability and long service time. Although EVs basically do not produce pollution, the end-of-life (EOL) issues of LIBs cannot be ignored due to their potential economic benefits and environmental risks. Current methods for the retired batteries mainly include disposal, recycling and reuse. EV LIBs can be reused in a variety of applications with less demanding. Compared with recycling and disposal, reuse process can obtain better economic and environmental benefits. Many second life EV LIBs projects have been undertaken and demonstrated the great potential of reuse. However, the reuse should consider economic, environmental, technical, and various market perspectives. Technical challenges that must be faced include safety issues, assessment methods, screening and restructuring technologies, and comprehensive management during the reuse process. Economic feasibility issues, comprehensive supply chains, and the lack of relevant regulations also hinder large-scale development of reuse. It is foreseeable that improvements including standardization, big data and cloud-based technologies are desperately needed to maximize the industrialization of reuse and recycling. [Display omitted]