Kinetics Dominated, Interface Targeted Rapid Heating for Battery Material Rejuvenation

This review summarizes recent advancements in LIB recycling including active materials recovery, regeneration, and reutilization based on the rapid heating technology with emphasis on precise control of the reaction's kinetics, pointing out remaining challenges for scaling up applications and the promising research opportunities in materials science toward a green and sustainable battery economy.

Abstract

The ambitious pursuit of carbon neutrality underscores the pressing demand for closed-loop recycling of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), amid escalating production and disposal challenges. Direct battery material recycling, emphasizing the rejuvenation of degraded materials, stands out as an environmentally benign alternative to conventional pyro- and hydro-metallurgical processes that are intrinsically destructive. In addition, given the surface, interface, and interphase as the major failure mechanisms in degraded materials, rapid heating technology (RHT) emerges as a promising direct recycling method, harnessing its distinctive kinetics and thermodynamics to trigger highly time- and energy-efficient, precisely defect- and interface-targeted approach to revitalize degraded materials. This review summarizes recent advancements in RHT-based LIB recycling strategies, focusing on active materials recovery, efficient regeneration, and reutilization, with emphasis on expedited kinetics and locally confined chemical reactions at interfaces. It also outlines the perspectives and future directions by emphasizing the need for re-manufactured materials to meet increasing application demands. This comprehensive review aims to guide the recycling and upcycling of spent LIBs toward a green and sustainable battery economy.