The extraction and determination of free lithium in LiB alloys (original) (raw)

Extraction of lithium from primary and secondary sources by pre-treatment, leaching and separation: A comprehensive review

Hydrometallurgy, 2014

In this comprehensive review resources of lithium and status of different processes/technologies in vogue or being developed for extraction of lithium and associated metals from both primary and secondary resources are summarized. Lithium extraction from primary resources such as ores/minerals (spodumene, petalite and lepidolite) by acid, alkaline and chlorination processes and from brines by adsorption, precipitation and ion exchange processes, is critically examined. Problems associated with the exploitation of other resources such as bitterns and seawater are highlighted. As regards the secondary resources, the industrial processes followed and the newer developments aiming at the recovery of lithium from lithium ion batteries (LIBs) are described in detail. In particular pre-treatment of the spent LIBs, leaching of metals from the cathode material in different acids and separation of lithium and other metals from the leach liquors, are discussed. Although spent LIBs are currently processed to recover cobalt and other base metals but not lithium, there is a good prospect for the recovery of lithium in the coming years. Varying compositions of batteries for different applications require development of a suitable recycling process to recover metals from all types of LIBs.

Universal and high efficient extraction of lithium for LIB recycling using mechanochemistry

The increasing lithium-ion battery production calls for profitable and ecologically benign technologies for recycling and recovering critical components, such as Li. Unfortunately, all currently used industrial ways of recycling are always associated with large energy consumption and utilization of corrosive reagents, which creates a risk to the environment. Herein we report a high efficient mechanochemically induced acid-free process for recycling Li from cathode materials of different and mainly used chemistries such as LiCoO2, LiMn2O4, Li(CoNiMn)O2, and LiFePO4. The introduced technology uses Al as a reducing agent in the mechanochemical reaction. Two different processes have been developed to regenerate lithium from cathode materials and to transform it to the pure Li2CO3. The mechanisms of mechanochemical transformation, aqueous leaching, and the lithium purification process were investigated. The presented technology achieves a recovery rate for Li of up to 70% without applyin...

Determination of Li and Nb in Congruent Lithium Niobate by ICP-MS

This paper reports the study undertaken to obtain a quantification method of Li and Nb in lithium niobate (LN) through an analytical chemical method. With use of a specifically designed digestion protocol, the contents of both lithium and niobium in a congruent LN monocrystalline compound have been systematically quantified by means of ICP-MS. HF and HNO 3 acid mixtures in proportions 8:2 and 6:4 turn out to be most favorable to obtain the total digestion of the compound. Under these experimental conditions, Li and Nb recovery factors between 95% and 108% together with coefficients of variation around 1% were obtained. The resulting data are enough to suggest a new model of vacancies for the congruent lithium niobate based on the combination of both lithium and oxygen vacancies.

Toward New Technologies for the production of lithium

Overview Lithium The lightest of all metals, lithium is used in a variety of applications, including the production of organolithium compounds, as an alloying addition to aluminum and magnesium , and as the anode in rechargeable lithium ion batteries. All of the world's primary lithium is produced by molten salt electrolysis. This article reviews the current technology for lithium extraction and assesses the prospects for change.

Precise and rapid isotopic analysis of lithium in refractory materials using NaLiBO2+ by thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS)

International Journal of Mass Spectrometry, 2020

and Na 2 BO 2 þ. Average 6 Li/ 7 Li isotopic ratio obtained for L-SVEC lithium from ten measurement using this technique was 0.08277 ± 0.00006 (S.D). Refractory compounds Li 2 TiO 3 and LiAlO 2 and lithium salts such as Li 2 CO 3 (lithium source for the refractory compounds) and Li 2 B 10 O 16 were analysed for 6 Li/ 7 Li isotopic ratio with precision of better than 0.07% (% R.S.D). Agreement between the 6 Li/ 7 Li isotopic ratio of the refractory compound and the starting material signified that there is no matrix induced mass bias. This technique not only resulted precise values for 6 Li/ 7 Li isotopic ratio but has also simplified the procedure for isotopic analysis of Li in refractory materials by circumventing the dissolution and purification step that would have been otherwise required for established mass spectrometric methods.

Electrochemical Methods for Lithium Recovery: A Comprehensive and Critical Review

Advanced Materials, 2020

Lithium production grew steadily year after year passing from 16.4 thousand metric tons of contained Li at the beginning of the 20th century to 39.3 in 2016 (Figure 1). It doubled in roughly 16 years. However, from 2016 on, the production sky-rocketed reaching 85 thousand metric tons in 2018, more than double the amount of two years before. Although the large increase in production, the price for battery grade lithium carbonate doubled passing from 8650 to 17000 $ per metric ton in the same time span (Figure 1). This followed the large increase in electric-vehicle fleet which passed from 3.1 million vehicles in 2017 to more than 5 millions in 2018. [3] Still, due to the envisaged expansion of these technologies, Li demand is expected to grow further in the near future, up to 900 ktons per year by 2025 (three times higher than 2018). [8] with a consequent increase of its price, which has already doubled in the last two years. [9,10] Global sources of Li are mainly divided into ores and brines. Various published reviews describe the extraction methods from ores, [11,12] which require several hydrometallurgical steps. It is reported that the production cost of Li from minerals is around twice the one from brines. [12] Moreover, according to some estimations, the brine sources are approximately double than the mineral ones. [13] Taking into account only the amount of Li needed for powering electric Due to the ubiquitous presence of lithium-ion batteries in portable applications, and their implementation in the transportation and large-scale energy sectors, the future cost and availability of lithium is currently under debate. Lithium demand is expected to grow in the near future, up to 900 ktons per year in 2025. Lithium utilization would depend on a strong increase in production. However, the currently most extended lithium extraction method, the lime-soda evaporation process, requires a period of time in the range of 1-2 years and depends on weather conditions. The actual global production of lithium by this technology will soon be far exceeded by market demand. Alternative production methods have recently attracted great attention. Among them, electrochemical lithium recovery, based on electrochemical ion-pumping technology, offers higher capacity production, it does not require the use of chemicals for the regeneration of the materials, reduces the consumption of water and the production of chemical wastes, and allows the production rate to be controlled, attending to the market demand. Here, this technology is analyzed with a special focus on the methodology, materials employed, and reactor designs. The state-of-the-art is reevaluated from a critical perspective and the viability of the different proposed methodologies analyzed.

Synthesis and characterization of LiBOB as electrolyte for lithium-ion battery

Ionics, 2015

A synthesis process of lithium bis(oxalato) borate (LiBOB) has been conducted. LiBOB is one of lithium salts which is potentially viable to be utilized as an electrolyte material for lithium-ion battery. In the synthesis of LiBOB powder, oxalic acid, lithium hydroxide, and boric acid were mixed with 2:1:1 mol ratio until homogeneous. The method employed in the synthesis of LiBOB was solid state reaction. According to the result analysis from a differential thermal analyzer (DTA) equipment, it was decided that the first heat preservation should be carried out at 120°C for 4 h, and then heating temperature for preparing LiBOB was at 240°C for 7 h. The crystal structure of the LiBOB powder formed from the heating process was analyzed with X-ray diffractometer (XRD). The data found were further explored to determine the phase formed, to calculate percentage of synthesized LiBOB from the crystallography data. The dominant phases formed were LiBOB and LiBOB hydrate, and impurities in another phase were also presented. The result of Fourier transform infra red (FTIR) spectroscopy within wave number range of 500-4000 cm −1 confirmed that functional group of LiB(C 2 O 4) 2 compound was found, identified by the appearance of absorption band CO , C=O, B-O, O-B-O, and CC. LiBOB microstructure which was observed with scanning electron microscope (SEM) is also presented. Furthermore, LiBOB powder was made into liquid electrolyte with carbonate-based solvent, and tested in a half-cell lithium-ion battery which is characterized on the cyclic voltammetry (CV) curves.