Abstract
The automotive industry is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the modern economy. Growing customer expectations, implementing solutions related to electromobility, and increasingly stringent legal restrictions in the field of environmental protection, determine the development and introduction of innovative technologies in the field of car production. To power the most modern vehicles that include electric and hybrid cars, packages of various types of lithium-ion cells are used, the number of which is constantly growing. After use, these batteries, due to their complex chemical composition, constitute hazardous waste that is difficult to manage and must be recycled in modern technological lines. The article presents the morphological characteristics of the currently used types of Li-ion cells, and the threats to the safety of people and the environment that may occur in the event of improper use of Li-ion batteries and accumulators have been identified and described on the basis of the Regulation of the European Parliament and Council (EC) No. 1272/2008 of 16 December 2008 and No. 1907/2006 of 18 December 2006 on the classification, labeling and packaging of substances and mixtures and the registration, evaluation, authorization and restriction of chemicals (REACH), establishing the European Chemicals Agency.
Highlights
The global demand for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) intended for the automotive industry is growing steadily and rapidly, which is related to growing market interest in electric and hybrid vehicles
Liquid electrolytes are used successfully in various accumulator applications. They consist of lithium salts (LiPF6, LiBF4 and LiClO4) dissolved in one or a combination of several organic solvents, e.g., ethylene carbonate (EC), propylene carbonate (PC) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) [12]
*—Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council (EC) No 1272/2008 of 16 December 2008 on the classification, labeling and packaging of substances and mixtures, amending and repealing Directives 67/548/EEC and 1999/45/EC and amending Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 [13]. **—Safety data sheets of chemical compounds prepared in compliance with Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council (EC) No 1907/2006 of 18 December 2006 concerning the registration, evaluation, authorization and restriction of chemicals (REACH), establishing a European Chemicals Agency, amending Directive 1999/45/EC and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 793/93 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1488/94 and Council Directive 76/769/EEC and Commission Directives 91/155/EEC, 93/67/EEC, 93/105/EC and 2000/21/EC [14], available on the websites of companies selling chemical substances [15,16,17,18,19]. ***—ECHA European Chemicals Agency [20]
Summary
The global demand for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) intended for the automotive industry is growing steadily and rapidly, which is related to growing market interest in electric and hybrid vehicles. In 2014–2019, an increase in the number of registered electric vehicles from several hundred thousand to over two million has been observed [1] This trend will continue, given that many European countries plan or are already implementing a ban on the registration of vehicles powered exclusively by a combustion engine (Table 1) [1]. Recycling 2021, 6, 35 shown that Li-ion batteries are composed of many complex chemical substances that are potentially harmful to the environment and human health These components are contained in spent batteries of this type, so proper recycling is one of the most important tasks for modern, innovative waste management systems
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