Selective recovery of lithium from simulated brine using different organic synergist

• Published in: Chinese journal of chemical engineering Vol. 27; no. 2; pp. 335 - 340
• Main Authors: Li, Huifang, Li, Lijuan, Peng, Xiaowu, Ji, Lianmin, Li, Wu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.02.2019; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China%Key Laboratory of Comprehensive and Highly Efficient Utilization of Salt Lake Resources, Qinghai Institute of Salt Lakes, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; Qinghai University, Xining 810010, China%Key Laboratory of Comprehensive and Highly Efficient Utilization of Salt Lake Resources, Qinghai Institute of Salt Lakes, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China%Key Laboratory of Comprehensive and Highly Efficient Utilization of Salt Lake Resources, Qinghai Institute of Salt Lakes, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China; Key Laboratory of Comprehensive and Highly Efficient Utilization of Salt Lake Resources, Qinghai Institute of Salt Lakes, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China; Key Laboratory of Salt Lake Resources Chemistry of Qinghai Province, Xining 810008, China
• Subjects: Lithium extraction; Mechanism; Mixed extraction system; Organic synergist; Lithium extraction; Mixed extraction system; Mechanism; Organic synergist
• ISSN: 1004-9541; 2210-321X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cjche.2018.04.010

The organic synergists, including Octanol, ethyl acetate (EA), butyl acetate (BA), methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK), diisobutyl ketone (DIBK), N,N-bis(2-ethylhexyl) acetamide (N523) and 8-hydroxylquiolate, were added to the TBP–FeCl3 extraction system to extract lithium from brine. The effects of concentration of organic synergist and total organic extractant, molar ratio of Fe/Li, phase ratio, counter-current extraction and the acidity of stripping agent on lithium extraction were investigated to optimize the extraction conditions. Under the optimize conditions, the results of counter-current extraction showed the mixed extraction system was the preponderance on the lithium extraction. Especially the separation of lithium in organic phase and aqueous phase and the separation mass ratio of Mg/Li increased greatly. An extraction mechanism was proposed based on the analysis of FT-IR spectra and Raman spectra.