Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) find extensive use in various electronic devices, including computers, phones, and electric vehicles. Due to their widespread applications, LIBs come in diverse shapes, sizes, and compositions. These batteries contain significant amounts of critical materials such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel. Unfortunately, without proper recycling, these valuable materials are lost when electronics reach the end of their life cycle. [1]. The increasing demand for batteries, particularly in the electric vehicle (EV) industry, has led to a surge in the need for critical metals. For example, sales of electric vehicles are expected to increase to 23-40 million in 2030 compared to 5.1 million in 2018 [2]. In response to the growing demand for batteries and the subsequent need for battery materials as well as the environmental impact of discarded batterie several governments worldwide have taken significant steps to establish a complete recycling infrastructure including collection points, incentivizing recycling facilities and promoting the use of recycled materials. Legislation has been enacted in countries such as the United States, China, and the European Union to mandate the establishment of large-scale battery recycling facilities [1] [3]. These facilities play a crucial role in creating a sustainable supply chain for critical metals. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the recycling processes for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), covering various scales from lab experiments to industrial implementations. All these processes are built upon three distinct technologies including hydrometallurgy, pyrometallurgy and combined hydrometallurgy and pyrometallurgy processes [4] [3] [1]. Within the developed processes, only a few have successfully scaled up to industrial pilot scales. In this paper, we will explore and compare examples of both pilot-scale and industrial-scale processes. Discussing and comparing these processes will provide valuable insights for advancing sustainable battery recycling practices. 

Lithium-sulfur batteries are heralded as the next-generation energy storage systems due to their exceptional theoretical discharge capacity (1675 mAh g^-1) and energy density (2600 W h kg^-1) [1]. However, their commercialization faces significant hurdles: the low electrical conductivity of sulfur and its compounds, substantial volume expansion during cycling, and the lithium polysulfide shuttle effect. These challenges lead to poor electrochemical performance, limited cycle life, and reduced rate capability [2,3].

In our current research aimed at overcoming these major challenges, we have developed a composite based on biomass-derived graphene-like porous carbon and MXene, which we used to modify the separator. The graphene-like porous carbon was produced by carbonizing biomass waste followed by thermochemical activation with potassium hydroxide (1:4). This process yielded carbon with an increased specific surface area of 2200 m²/g and significant mesoporosity, with an average pore size of 2-4 nm [4]. Concurrently, MXene (Ti₃C₂Tx) was synthesized by etching the aluminum layer from a titanium-based MAX phase. The chemical composition, morphological features, and microstructure of the prepared materials were thoroughly investigated using various techniques, including SEM, TEM, Raman spectroscopy, XPS, and XRD. The obtained composite was applied to a commercial Celgard separator using the doctor blade technique, with polyvinylidene fluoride dissolved in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone as a binder.

As a result of the C/MXene separator modification, the assembled lithium-sulfur cell delivered an initial discharge capacity of 1620 mAh g⁻¹ at 0.2 C and maintained a capacity greater than 1050 mAh g⁻¹ after 100 cycles, with an average Coulombic efficiency of 97%. Further electrochemical tests of the cells are currently under investigation.

Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the Science Committee of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Grant No. AP13067625).  

Recent research has increasingly focused on lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries due to their notable advantages, such as a high theoretical capacity of 1675 mAh/g, low cost, and the abundance of sulfur. Despite these benefits, the commercialization of Li-S batteries is hindered by several challenges, including the insulating nature of sulfur, substantial volume expansion of up to 80%, and the polysulfide shuttle effect. To overcome these obstacles, various strategies have been proposed, including the incorporation of carbon-based materials as a matrix for sulfur, the use of polar materials, and modifications to the separators, etc. [1].

Graphene oxide (GO) is a highly advantageous host material used in Lithium-sulfur batteries owing to its superior electronic conductivity, extensive specific surface area, and advantageous mechanical flexibility. These properties make GO well-suited for the integration of sulfur particles, thereby promoting more efficient electron transfer and improving the overall effectiveness of the composite material [2].

MXenes are a diverse group of 2D early transition-metal carbides, nitrides or carbonitrides. Their surfaces, made up of transition metals (such as Ti, V, Zr, and Nb) and termination groups such as -O, -OH and -F are highly hydrophilic and form strong bonds with polysulfides. This makes MXenes promising for preventing polysulfide shuttling and enhancing the stability of Li-S batteries [3].

Using carbon-based materials from natural biomass waste, like rice husk (RH), is popular for being cost-effective, renewable, and sustainable. These materials also have intrinsic micro and mesoporosity, making RH a promising source for low-cost, porous carbons. For the modification of Li-S battery separator, a key approach is creating composites of carbon and MXene. This combination offers numerous active sites for efficient electrochemical charge transfer and strong adsorption of lithium polysulfides (LiPSs). The composite effectively captures LiPSs through both chemical and physical interactions and helps manage volume expansion during battery cycling [4].

GO/S and GPC/MXene composites were synthesized and characterized using SEM, TEM, XPS, and XRD. SEM images confirmed the successful removal of "A" layers from the MAX phases, showing structural changes. 

Electrochemical tests were performed with CR2032 coin cells. A slurry of 80 wt% GO/S, 10 wt% conductive acetylene black, and 10 wt% polyvinylidene fluoride binder in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone was coated onto carbon-coated aluminum foil to make the cathode. Additionally, the GPC/MXene composite was coated onto a Celgard 2400 separator. The GO/S cathodes with bare separator achieved an initial discharge capacity of 1210.71 mAh/g, while with GPC/Mxene coated separator reached 1632.9 mAh/g. After 100 cycles, their capacities were 864.47 mAh/g and 1011.88 mAh/g, respectively, highlighting their potential for Li-S battery applications.

Lithium-ion battery (LIB) market size will grow at the compounded annual growth rate of +16%, surpassing 165 billion USD in revenue by 2030. While most of this growth is enabled by innovations in battery chemistry and performance, safety hazards remain a primary concern and a major restrain to market expansion. Safety incidences often results from errors introduced during high-volume manufacturing that, through a chain of events, leads to a thermal runaway and fire. C4V has teamed with leading Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) experts to address the issue by developing tools that can not only track and minimize or eliminate manufacturing defects in the battery cells, but can warn users of an incipient catastrophic event ahead of time, thus preventing any damage to property or loss of life. The first generation of the DigitalDNA (DDNA) software is able to automatically capture key electrochemical data from cell cyclers installed at iM3NY, a New York based gigafactory that produces 50Ah prismatic cells.[1] DDNA automatically curates and analyse data generated at the production floor, and create actionable outputs for operator to take corrective measures in near real-time. DDNA is designed to be platform agnostic and can capture data in multiple formats. The next-generation of DDNA, with an in-built advanced data analytics algorithms can easily access and use these large data sets to train the ML models and implement AI to provide predictive insights and enable continuous improvements in electrochemical performance of LIBs. In addition, with a recent release of the Supply Chain module, DDNA can perform a full inventory control and management of +30 components that are required for battery cell production. With this module, DDNA can also track the progress of C4V’s extensive raw material qualification program currently underway for more than 50 vendors globally. By integrating best-practices in laboratory information and data management systems, DDNA enables a high level of information flow control during the 5 discrete stages of phase-gate qualification process starting with a preliminary  assessments in a coin cell to a full scale evaluation in the commercial cell. When integrated with the warehouse management system and high-level business systems such as ERP, the predictive capability of the software can use the raw material utilization data intelligently to create sourcing and procurement scenarios to achieve full inventory and cost optimization. 

By leveraging the fully digitized future gigafactories and the IIoT ecosystems, the future-generations of DDNA will seamlessly integrate with manufacturing execution systems to collect data at each step of the manufacturing process. By tapping into the real-time visualization of process and equipment performance data, the ML and AI analytics will be able to detect anomalies ahead of time. This ability to predict failure and perform preventive maintenance will increase equipment availability and performance and reduce disruptions and costly repairs. More importantly, DDNA will interface with the numerous in- or at-line quality control instruments implemented in a roll-to-roll process. Together with feedback control loop, access to statistically significant anomaly data set and advanced descriptive analytics, DDNA will enable processes that will reduce waste and improve yields. By quickly detecting and eliminating any debilitating defects at every step, DDNA will afford a highly reliable and safe battery products. 

We envision that DDNA will mature into a comprehensive software platform that will enable Smart gigafactories and predictive manufacturing and will make intelligent decisions informed by data gathered over the entire value chain of LIB from molecules (mines) to machines (vehicles and Energy Storage Systems). 

Transition metal compounds with a general formula A_xM_aX_b (A=Li, Na, M= transition metal, X= O, S) constitute a group of potential electrode materials for a new generation of alkaline batteries.[1,2] This application is related to the fact that these compounds can reversibly intercalate high amounts of alkaline ions (1 or more moles per mole of M_aX_b) already at room temperature, without significant changes in their crystallographic structure. Nowadays, further development of rechargeable batteries is focused on the discovery of new, high-performance and low-cost electrode materials. Recently, Na-ion batteries have attracted much attention due to their many advantages, such as: high abundance of sodium in the Earth’s crust, its low cost and suitable redox potential (only 0.3 V above that of lithium).

The author of this work basing on her own investigations of numerous group of cathode materials  has demonstrated that the electronic structure of the electrode materials plays an important role in the electrochemical intercalation process. The paper reveals correlation between crystal and electronic structure, chemical disorder,  transport and electrochemical properties of layered transition metal oxides and polyanions Na₂Fe₂(SO₄)₃ cathode materials. The complex studies, including experimental as well as theoretical parts (electronic structure calculations performed using the Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker method with the coherent potential approximation KKR-CPA to account for chemical disorder), showed a strong correlation between structural, transport and electrochemical properties of these materials.

The detailed analysis presented in this work provides a strong proof that the high-entropy Na_xMn_0.2Fe_0.2Co_0.2Ni_0.2Ti_0.2O₂ oxide with reduced content of cobalt and nickel and Na₂Fe₂(SO₄)₃ might be applicable in sodium batteries technology, especially in terms of large-scale energy storage units.