Advancements in the new energy sector and smart living technologies have contributed to increased generation of electronic waste (e-waste), creating significant environmental challenges. Thus, developing efficient methods for e-waste recycling and reuse is essential for sustainable progress. Here, this review provides an overview of the recycling and reusing of e-waste in energy storage applications. First, this review introduces the current state of research on recovering precious and transition metals from e-waste, providing an in-depth discussion on the advantages and limitations of various recovery methods, including hydrometallurgical, pyrometallurgical, and bioleaching processes. Then, highlights the important applications of recycled metals in catalysis, including their performance and mechanisms of action in hydrogen production from electrolytic water, fuel cells cathode catalyst, and organic synthesis catalytic reactions. Finally, this review summarizes efficient e-waste recycling methods and offers a perspective on the future reuse of reclaimed metals in catalyst design. Overall, this work aims to provide new insights for promoting the synergistic development of e-waste resource recovery and green catalyst technology.
Xiu et al. (Fri,) studied this question.