Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: In recent years, circular economy principles have become a key paradigm in the design and evaluation of industrial processes, including recycling technologies. Direct recycling of used lithium-ion batteries is attracting particular attention, as it can significantly reduce energy consumption, reagent costs, and the carbon footprint of the entire process compared to traditional hydro- and pyrometallurgical methods. This paper provides an overview of the current state of knowledge, synthesizes contemporary methods of Li-ion battery cell recycling, and presents the most important achievements in the field of direct recycling, with particular emphasis on the regeneration and re-leaping of cathode materials, and discusses the implementation and economic premises. Key challenges and research gaps are also identified, including the need to use computational modeling (CFD/DEM, kinetic and data-driven models) to optimize the deactivation, separation, and regeneration stages. This review concludes that direct recycling has the potential to become the leading circular economy pathway for Li-ion batteries, provided that quality standardization and process modeling tools are developed in parallel.
Source: Materials
DOI: 10.3390/ma18245608
Authors: Michał Łach, Agnieszka Przybek, Piotr Duda, Piotr Bielaczyc
Institutions: Cracow University of Technology, Bosmal (Poland)
Language: English
Subfield: Mechanical Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,137
OpenAlex ID: W4417333764