Sustainable Recycling of Spent Ionic Liquid Dual-Ion Batteries

Ionic liquid (IL) dual-ion batteries (DIBs) are widely studied as advanced electrochemical systems because of their potential nonflammability, environmental friendliness, and high working voltage. Recycling and reusing valuable IL electrolytes and metallic Ni current collectors might boost the application of IL DIBs. Herein, the preliminary results of the recycling of a spent DIB with 1,2-dimethyl-3-propylimidazolium chloroaluminate (DMPI+)(AlCl4-) electrolyte are reported. Recovery rates of most components (graphite flakes, Ni current collector, and so on) of the DIB reach a range of 84-98%, whereas the IL electrolyte is only 24%. Optimistically, the cost of an IL DIB using recycled components can be reduced by around 68%. Thus, developing the recycling processes might pave the way to increase the competitiveness of IL DIBs for grid-scale energy storage.