As the demand for lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles is increasing, it is important to recover valuable metals from waste lithium-ion batteries. In this study, the effects of gas flow rate and hydrogen partial pressure on hydrogen reduction of NCM-based lithium-ion battery cathode materials were investigated. As the gas flow rate and hydrogen partial pressure increased, the weight loss rate increased significantly from the beginning of the reaction due to the reduction of NiO and CoO by hydrogen. At 700 °C and hydrogen partial pressure above 0.5 atm, Ni and Li2O were produced by hydrogen reduction. From the reduction product and Li recovery rate, the hydrogen reduction of NCM-based cathode materials was significantly affected by hydrogen partial pressure. The Li compounds recovered from the solution after water leaching of the reduction products were LiOH, LiOH·H2O, and Li2CO3, with about 0.02 wt% Al as an impurity.

The lithium ion battery has applied to various fields of energy storage systems such as electric vehicle and potable electronic devices in terms of high energy density and long-life cycle. Despite of various research on the electrode and electrolyte materials, there is a lack of research for investigating of the binding materials to replace polymer based binder. In this study, we have investigated petroleum pitch/polymer composite with various ratios between petroleum pitch and polymer in order to optimize the electrochemical and physical performance of the lithium-ion battery based on petroleum pitch/polymer composite binder. The electrochemical and physical performances of the petroleum pitch/polymer composite binder based lithium-ion battery were evaluated by using a charge/discharge test, cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and universal testing machine (UTM). As a result, the petroleum pitch(MP-50)/polymer(PVDF) composite (5:5 wt % ratio) binder based lithium-ion battery showed 1.29 gf mm-1 of adhesion strength with 144 mAh g-1 of specific dis-charge capacity and 93.1 % of initial coulombic efficiency(ICE) value.

With a rapid expansion in electric vehicles, a huge amount of the spent Li-ion batteries (LIBs) could be discharged in near future. And thus, the proper handling of the spent LIBs is essential to sustainable development in the industry of electrical vehicles. Among various approaches such as pyrometallurgy, hydrometallurgy, and direct recycling, the hydrometallurgical manner has gained interest in recycling the spent LIBs due to its high effectiveness in recycling raw materials (e.g., lithium, nickel, cobalt, and manganese). However, the hydrometallurgical process not only requires the use of large amounts of acids and water resources but also produces toxic gases and wastewater leading to environmental and economic problems, considering potential economic and environmental problems. Thus, this review aims to provide an overview of conventional and state-of-the-art hydrometallurgical processes to recover valuable metals from spent LIBs. First, we briefly introduce the basic principle and materials of LIBs. Then, we briefly introduce the operations and pros-and cons- of hydrometallurgical processes. Finally, this review proposes future research directions in hydrometallurgy, and its potential opportunities in the fundamental and practical challenges regarding its deployment going forward.

In order to apply to high-nickel cathodes for high-capacity and stability enhancement of lithium-ion batteries, the characteristics of the coating film were reviewed using the conventional nickel plating method. The surface morphology of the plating layer and the measurement of the surface roughness were analyzed according to scan size and rate using the contact mode of Atomic Force Microscopy. The hydrogen ion concentration (pH) of the electrolyte played an important role in shaping the metal ion plating. As the overpotential of the surface increased during plating, the crystals grew in a direction other than the main crystal growth direction. The increase in on-time during pulse plating appears to result in coarse particles as much of the applied current is consumed by the reduction of hydrogen ions, resulting in lower current efficiency. From the AFM image, it was confirmed that the blackening of the plated film was due to a partial overvoltage phenomenon during electrolytic degreasing. In order to be used as a high-nickel cathode, it seems that the current must be uniformly distributed on the surface of the substrate during plating.

The enhancement of heat transfer in cooling system of cylindrical lithium-ion battery pack is numerically investigated by installing fins on the cooling plate. Battery Design StudioⓇ software is used for modeling electro-chemical heat generation in the battery and the conjugated heat transfer is analyzed with the commercial package STAR-CCM+. The result shows that installing fins on the cooling plate increases the convective heat transfer on the surface and thus lowers the maximum temperature of the battery pack. As the length and thickness of the fins increase, heat transfer in the battery pack improves. Considering the geometry and airflow of the battery pack, the optimal values for the length and thickness of the fin are both 2mm. As the convective heat transfer coefficient of the surface increases, the maximum temperature of the battery pack is greatly reduced and the temperature gradient is greatly improved.

The effect of flow direction on heat transfer in water cooling channel of lithium-ion battery is numerically investigated. Battery Design StudioⓇ software is used for modeling electro-chemical heat generation in the battery and the conjugated heat transfer is analyzed with the commercial package STAR-CCM+. The result shows that the maximum temperature and temperature difference of battery with Type 1 are the lowest because the heat transfer in the entrance region near the electrode is enhanced. As the inlet velocity is increased, the maximum temperature and temperature difference of battery decreases but the pressure loss increases. The pressure loss in Type 2 channel is the lowest due to the shortest channel length, while the pressure loss with Type 3 or 4 channel is the highest because of the longest channel length. Considering heat transfer performance and pressure loss, Type 1 is the best cooling channel.

The improvement of heat transfer in water cooling passage of lithium-ion battery is numerically studied by employing trapezoidal vortex generators. Battery Design StudioⓇ software is used for modeling electro-chemical heat generation in the battery. The conjugated heat transfer is analyzed with the commercial package STAR-CCM+ in terms of inlet flow velocities. The result shows that vortex generator enhances the convective heat transfer by developing thermal boundary layers and secondary flows in downstream, which results in reducing the average temperature of the battery by about 1℃. The heat transfer is enhanced for the whole inlet velocity, while the pressure loss sharply increases at more than inlet velocity of 0.1m/s. The optimum inlet velocity is around 0.1m/s for in terms of the heat transfer and pressure loss.