Separation of lithium from brines

Download
2015
Erdoğan, Barış
Lithium is one of the valuable and promising metals having extensive potential use in long lasting rechargeable batteries in automotive and electronics industry. Regarding scarcity of world lithium reserves, the most efficient method must be utilized in lithium separation and purification process. The scope of this study is to increase the efficiency of lithium separation by liquid-liquid extraction and adsorption methods with various materials synthesized throughout the study. In liquid-liquid extraction method, N-alkyl formamides (hexyl formamide, octyl formamide, dibutyl formamide, dihexyl formamide) were synthesized and lithium separation performances were evaluated. Hexyl formamide was found to have a distribution coefficient of 0.14 for LiCl in dilute concentrations at 25 oC which is the largest value cited in the literature for a single solvent so far. In adsorption method, lithium manganese oxides (LiMnO) were synthesized with solid-solid and hydrothermal reaction procedures under different temperature and Li/Mn ratios. The performance of the adsorbent with the highest capacity value was characterized at different pH, lithium and foreign ion (Na, K, Mg) concentrations. It was found out that, LiMnO adsorbent has a capacity value of 22.8 mg Li/g adsorbent at pH:10.2 in dilute lithium chloride solutions with a very high selectivity towards foreign ions such as sodium, potassium and magnesium. In order to employ LiMnO adsorbents in an adsorption column, micron sized particles were impregnated into millimeter sized beads made of poly(styrene-maleic anhydride-glycidyl methacrylate) (PSMA) by precipitation method. PSMA has been utilized in bead formation process for the first time in this study and gave superior results compared to previous analogs in terms of its swelling and self-crosslinking ability. The column performance filled with PSMA-LiMnO beads were evaluated with artificial brine, concentrated brine taken from Çamaltı Salina (İzmir) and boron clay extract taken from Bigadiç. The lithium concentration in brines was increased from 0.43 ppm to 1675.6 ppm while reducing the foreign ion concentrations significantly in adsorption column. The post treatment of the column product with LiMnO resulted in a solution with 3200 ppm Li. That concentration is above the required minimum concentration for Li2CO3 production, which is the raw material for lithium battery industry. The adsorption method, utilizing new PSMA-LiMnO beads in a column was found as a promising candidate for practical use in conventional separation of lithium from brines.

Suggestions

Development and characterization of tungstates and molybdates for li-ion batteries
Kaygusuz, Burçin; Aydınol, Mehmet Kadri; Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering (2016)
In recent years, the need for portable power, lithium ion batteries dominate the markets because of their advantages. Metal tungstates and molybdates (Metals: Fe, Ni, Co, Mn, Zn, Mg) are two important families of inorganic materials and have found many applications in various fields, such as catalysis, magnetic applications, humidity sensors, and photoluminescence. However, their use in energy storage applications is almost none. The tungstates and molybdates adapt monoclinic crystal structure and crystalli...
Modification of TiO2 and NiO charge selective mesoporous layers using excessive Y and Li additions for carbon based perovskite solar cells
Icli, Kerem Cagatay; Özenbaş, Ahmet Macit (2021-09-15)
Carbon based perovskite solar cells are rapidly emerging as promising photovoltaic devices, combining low cost production and prolonged device operation, due to the exclusion of polymeric conductors and integration of highly durable metal oxide charge selective layers. Modification of metal oxide mesoporous layers via element additions and enhancement of electrical conductivity is a major strategy for reduced internal resistances inside the cell. This work investigates the effect of excessive Y and Li addit...
Synthesis of few layer single crystal graphene grains on platinum by chemical vapour deposition
Karamat, S.; Sonusen, S.; ÇELİK, ÜMİT; UYSALLI, YİĞİT; Ozgonul, EKİN; Oral, Ahmet (2015-08-01)
The present competition of graphene electronics demands an efficient route which produces high quality and large area graphene. Chemical vapour deposition technique, where hydrocarbons dissociate in to active carbon species and form graphene layer on the desired metal catalyst via nucleation is considered as the most suitable method. In this study, single layer graphene with the presence of few layer single crystal graphene grains were grown on Pt foil via chemical vapour deposition. The higher growth tempe...
Synthesis of Graphene-MoS2 composite based anode from oxides and their electrochemical behavior
Sarwar, Saira; Karamat, Shumaila; Saleem Bhatti, Arshad; Aydınol, Mehmet Kadri; Oral, Ahmet; Hassan, Muhammad Umair (2021-10-16)
High energy storage capacity and longer life span make rechargeable Li-ion batteries the first choice in portable electronics. Here, a graphene-MoS2 composite material is investigated as a potential electrode material which enhances the electrochemical storage ability of the Li-ion batteries (LIBs). Graphene-MoS2 composite is synthesized from graphene oxide (GO), molybdenum trioxide and thiourea via hydrothermal route. Formation of graphene-MoS2 composite (molar ratio 1:2) is confirmed by X-ray diffraction ...
Synthesis of dispersible LiFePO4 particles with controlled size and morphology via polyol route
Coşkun, Elif; Çınar, Simge; Maviş, Bora; Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering (2022-8-22)
Despite their widespread use in energy storage, high cost and safety are two major concerns for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). The lack of safe, scalable, robust, and energy-efficient methods enabling high yield synthesis is one of the main reasons for the high cost of electroactive materials. This need has driven an interest in polyol synthesis technique due to simplicity and scalability. As applied in the synthesis of LiFePO4 (LFP) nanoparticles, polyol methods have generally been performed at high tempera...
Citation Formats
B. Erdoğan, “Separation of lithium from brines,” Ph.D. - Doctoral Program, Middle East Technical University, 2015.