Stabilisation technique Description References
Electrical stabilisation Electrical stabilisation methods remove the remaining energy that is stored in a battery through placing an external electrical load on the battery. This process is faster than some of the other stabilisation techniques and does not consume chemicals, but it is cumbersome, as each battery needs to be connected to a discharging device. The electrical stabilisation methods render the battery materials easiest to recover (Wu, et al., 2022), (Sommerville, et al., 2020)
Chemical stabilisation Chemical stabilisation methods use electrolyte solutions to short-circuit the battery, allowing the energy that is stored in the battery to be released. The submersion of the batteries in the electrolyte solution enables the dissipation of the heat that is generated through the process. This process does not need individual cells or batteries to be connected to a circuit and is cheap and simple, not requiring any expensive equipment with which to undertake the stabilisation. (Hantanasirisakul & Sawangphruk, 2023), Ojanen et. al. (2018), shaw-Stewart et al. (2019) and Punt et al. (2022).
Electrolyte removal Removal of the electrolyte from the cells renders them inactive, as they can no longer support the flow of an electrical current. This can be performed by extraction with supercritical fluids, thermal volatilisation or cryogenic freezing (Kim, et al., 2021), (Latini, et al., 2022)
Mechanical stabilisation (in-process) Mechanical stabilisation methods are also known as in-process stabilisation and consist of shredding or crushing the batteries while they are contained in an inert atmosphere. Gases that are often used to create the inert atmosphere around the batteries include nitrogen, carbon dioxide, or a mixture of carbon dioxide and argon. (Harper, et al., 2019)