Lithium recovery from brine using a λ-MnO2/activated carbon hybrid supercapacitor system

•A new electrochemical process for lithium recovery is suggested.•This process is based on a λ-MnO2/activated carbon hybrid supercapacitor system.•Lithium ions were selectively recovered from the solution with low energy.•This process was stable in long-term operation. Lithium is one of the most imp...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Chemosphere (Oxford) 2015-04, Vol.125, p.50-56
Main Authors: Kim, Seoni, Lee, Jaehan, Kang, Jin Soo, Jo, Kyusik, Kim, Seonghwan, Sung, Yung-Eun, Yoon, Jeyong
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activated carbon
Brackish
Calcium Compounds - metabolism
Capacitors
Charcoal - chemistry
Chile
Electrochemical Techniques - methods
Electrodes
Hybrid supercapacitor
Hybrid systems
Lakes
Lithium
Lithium - isolation & purification
Lithium ions
Lithium recovery
Manganese Compounds - chemistry
Oxides - chemistry
Oxides - metabolism
Recovery
Salt water
Salts - metabolism
Sodium Hydroxide - metabolism
λ-MnO2
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Summary:•A new electrochemical process for lithium recovery is suggested.•This process is based on a λ-MnO2/activated carbon hybrid supercapacitor system.•Lithium ions were selectively recovered from the solution with low energy.•This process was stable in long-term operation. Lithium is one of the most important elements in various fields including energy storage, medicine manufacturing and the glass industry, and demands for lithium are constantly increasing these days. The lime soda evaporation process using brine lake water is the major extraction method for lithium, but this process is not only inefficient and time-consuming but also causes a few environmental problems. Electrochemical recovery processes of lithium ions have been proposed recently, but the better idea for the silver negative electrodes used in these systems is required to reduce its cost or increase long term stability. Here, we report an electrochemical lithium recovery method based on a λ-MnO2/activated carbon hybrid supercapacitor system. In this system, lithium ions and counter anions are effectively captured at each electrode with low energy consumption in a salt solution containing various cationic species or simulated Salar de Atacama brine lake water in Chile. Furthermore, we designed this system as a flow process for practical applications. By experimental analyses, we confirmed that this system has high selectivity and long-term stability, with its performance being retained even after repetitive captures and releases of lithium ions.
ISSN:0045-6535
1879-1298
DOI:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2015.01.024