A Critical Review on the Recycling Strategy of Lithium Iron Phosphate from Electric Vehicles

Mingjun Zhang; Lifan Wang; Shiqi Wang; Tianyi Ma; Feifei Jia; Chun Zhan

doi:10.1002/smtd.202300125

A Critical Review on the Recycling Strategy of Lithium Iron Phosphate from Electric Vehicles

Small Methods. 2023 Jul;7(7):e2300125. doi: 10.1002/smtd.202300125. Epub 2023 Apr 22.

Authors

Mingjun Zhang^{1

2}, Lifan Wang^{1

2}, Shiqi Wang^{1

2}, Tianyi Ma³, Feifei Jia⁴, Chun Zhan^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Advanced Metallurgy, School of Metallurgical and Ecological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, 100083, China.
² Department of Energy Storage Science and Engineering, School of Metallurgical and Ecological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, 100083, China.
³ China Automotive Technology and Research Center Co., Ltd., Tianjin, 300300, China.
⁴ School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, 430070, China.

PMID: 37086120
DOI: 10.1002/smtd.202300125

Abstract

Electric vehicles (EVs) are one of the most promising decarbonization solutions to develop a carbon-negative economy. The increasing global storage of EVs brings out a large number of power batteries requiring recycling. Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) is one of the first commercialized cathodes used in early EVs, and now gravimetric energy density improvement makes LFP with low cost and robustness popular again in the market. Developments in LFP recycling techniques are in demand to manage a large portion of the EV batteries retired both today and around ten years later. In this review, first the operation and degradation mechanisms of LFP are revisited aiming to identify entry points for LFP recycling. Then, the current LFP recycling methods, from the pretreatment of the retired batteries to the regeneration and recovery of the LFP cathode are summarized. The emerging direct recovery technology is highlighted, through which both raw material and the production cost of LFP can be recovered. In addition, the current issues limiting the development of the LIBs recycling industry are presented and some ideas for future research are proposed. This review provides the theoretical basis and insightful perspectives on developing new recycling strategies by outlining the whole-life process of LFP.

Keywords: lithium iron phosphate; pretreatment; recovery; recycle; regeneration.

Publication types

Review

Abstract

Publication types

Grants and funding