Circular economy, challenges and solutions in lithium-ion battery electrolyte and separator recycling

Electrolytes and separator materials play crucial roles in lithium-ion battery (LIB), providing ion conduction channels and ensuring effective isolation between electrodes to maintain battery safety and stable energy transfer. With the rapid growth of global battery LIB, especially in the fields of electric vehicles and renewable energy storage systems, the recycling of these materials has become particularly important. Recycling LIB electrolytes and separator materials can not only reduce the dependence on rare resources such as lithium and cobalt but also significantly reduce the environmental pollution caused by waste LIBs. However, current recycling technologies have many limitations, such as low recycling efficiency, complex separation and purification processes, high costs, and high energy consumption. This paper discusses these technical challenges in detail and introduces the latest technological progress, including supercritical CO₂ extraction, electrochemical recycling, and new purification processes. These methods show the potential to improve recycling efficiency and reduce environmental impacts. In addition, this paper looks forward to future development directions and emphasizes promoting the LIB industry to move towards a circular economy and sustainable development through technological innovation to simplify the process flow, reduce costs, and improve resource reuse rates.