With the development of drone technology, drones are being used in various industries. In general, drones use lithium-based battery pack, which is sensitive to external impact and temperature characteristics. Therefore, in order to prevent this problem, a battery case for protecting the battery from the outside is used. Usually, carbon fiber is used as case material, carbon fiber is expensive and has disadvantages of being difficult to manufacture. In this study, a battery case was fabricated to minimize the influence of external impact and temperature by using expanded polypropylene material, and also the battery efficiency test was performed using fabricated case. After basic design for battery case was conducted, a system capable of maintaining temperature was constructed by attaching a surface heating element inside the case, and the effect of maintaining temperature according to the presence or absence of the case was confirmed. Using manufactured prototype case, flight tests were carried out to check the battery voltage level according to the presence or absence of the case and to analyze the effect of improving the battery efficiency for the flight time of the drone.

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.