Comprehensive Review on Concept and Recycling Evolution of Lithium-Ion Batteries (LIBs)

Recycling of spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is an emergent research area, which may contribute to a sustainable future with reduced waste. Current recycling strategies only generate recycled compounds rather than functional materials, and most of those strategies deal with cathodes rather than anodes. Developing an effective method to recover Co and Li from the spent LIBs has become a research area of great interest in the past decade and also a challenging job for the industry and researcher. Researchers have studied several methods to recycle valuable metals (Co, Li, Ni, and Mn) from spent lithium-ion batteries. Valuable metals such as cobalt (Co) and lithium (Li) are mainly used to prepare lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2) for applications in LIBs. The increasing demand of the LIBs for electronic devices and electric vehicles has created an additional problem to the initial and exclusive thought of finding good-performing and long-lasting batteries. In this present review, recovery of Co and Li from LiCoO2 powders of spent LIBs by a hydrometallurgical process is discussed and summarized to aid researchers and policymakers who are working on this area on the best recycling practices.