Research Progress on Green Recycling and Regeneration Technology of Waste Lithium Battery Cathode Materials

作者：Hanbing Duan · 发表于：Frontiers in Sustainable Development · 年份：2026 · DOI：10.54691/nr6hm195

The large-scale development of new energy vehicles and energy storage industry has driven the continuous growth of demand for lithium batteries, and waste lithium batteries have entered the stage of centralized retirement. According to the forecast of China Commerce Industry Research Institute in 2024, the retired volume of power batteries in China will reach 1.04 million tons by 2025. The cathode materials of waste lithium batteries contain valuable metals such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel. Disorderly disposal not only causes resource loss, but also soil and air pollution due to heavy metal leakage and electrolyte volatilization. Green recycling and regeneration technology is the core path to achieve the coordinated development of resource recycling and ecological environmental protection. Currently, the industry has formed three mainstream technology systems: pyrometallurgical, hydrometallurgical, and direct regeneration. After technical optimization, The lithium recovery rate of low-temperature pyrometallurgical process exceeds 60%; The green hydrometallurgical process has been industrialized and verified, with a lithium recovery rate of 96.5% and a comprehensive recovery rate of 99.6% for cobalt, nickel, and manganese; Direct regeneration technology can achieve crystal structure repair of cathode materials, and the performance of regenerated products approaches that of native materials. This article combines the characteristics of cathode materials and the urgency of re...