Comprehensive review and comparison on pretreatment of spent lithium-ion battery

Pretreatment, the initial step in recycling spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), efficiently separates cathode and anode materials to facilitate key element recovery. Despite brief introductions in existing research, a comprehensive evaluation and comparison of processing methods is lacking. This study reviews 346 references on LIBs recycling, analyzing pretreatment stages, treatment conditions, and method effects. Our analysis highlights insufficient attention to discharge voltage safety and environmental impact. Mechanical disassembly, while suitable for industrial production, overlooks electrolyte recovery and complicates LIBs separation. High temperature pyrolysis flotation offers efficient separation of mixed electrode materials, enhancing mineral recovery. We propose four primary pretreatment processes: discharge, electrolyte recovery, crushing and separation, and electrode material recovery, offering simplified, efficient, green, low-cost, and high-purity raw materials for subsequent recovery processes.