Lithium-ion batteries offer a contemporary solution to curb greenhouse gas emissions and combat the climate crisis driven by gasoline usage. Consequently, rigorous research is currently underway to improve the performance and sustainability of current lithium-ion batteries or to develop newer battery chemistry.
"Recycling a lithium-ion battery consumes more energy and resources than producing a new battery, explaining why only a small amount of lithium-ion batteries are recycled," says Aqsa Nazir, a postdoctoral research scholar at Florida International University's battery research laboratory.
Section 5 discusses the major challenges facing Li-ion batteries: (1) temperature-induced aging and thermal management; (2) operational hazards (overcharging, swelling, thermal runaway, and dendrite formation); (3) handling and safety; (4) economics, and (5) recycling battery materials.
The current annual demand for lithium-ion batteries (LIB) is around 1 TWh. Market forecasts predict global demand of 2 to 6 TWh by 2030, with up to 10 TWh being considered realistic in the long term. The increase will be driven in particular by the switch from combustion engines to electric vehicles.
However, the daily operation of batteries also contributes to such emission, which is largely disregarded by both the vendor as well as the public. Besides, recycling and recovering the degraded batteries have proved to be difficult, mostly due to logistical issues, lack of supporting policies, and low ROI.
However, despite the current success of Li-ion batteries, the review has identified a number of challenges that still remain to be addressed before improved performances and wider applications can be achieved. These challenges include: (1) aging and degradation; (2) improved safety; (3) material costs, and (4) recyclability.