Increasing the Stability of LiMn2O4 Against Harsh Conditions During Lithium Recovery from Real Brine Solutions

Hippauf F, Abendroth T, Neidhardt J, Althues H, Aljlil SA, Alrasheed RA, Alyousef YM, Kaskel S (2021)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2021

Journal

Energy Technology Wiley-Blackwell

Book Volume: 9

Article Number: 2100145

Journal Issue: 8

DOI: 10.1002/ente.202100145

Abstract

Brines are abundant waste products from desalination plants and have higher lithium contents than sea water (0.17 ppm). Herein, electrochemical lithium recovery from real brine solutions using Li-selective LiMn2O4 is reported. Free-standing electrodes are prepared completely solvent-free. At low current densities, the complete theoretical capacity of 148 mAh g⁻¹ can be utilized. The process is highly rate dependent due to the lithium concentration in the mm range. The high salt content of the brine depicts a challenging environment for electrodes and reactor materials. Competing earth-alkali metals lead to scale formation blocking the electrode surface and reducing the electrode capacity for lithium uptake. The high chloride concentration enables the formation of chlorine Cl2 at potentials < 1 V versus Ag/AgCl competing with the deintercalation of lithium. A combination of commercial antiscalants was used to suppress the formation of CaCO3 at the electrode prolonging its cycle life. It is shown that a cation exchange membrane not only effectively blocks chloride ions from the electrode but also decreases the Li-diffusion. Finally, the selectivity of the process is proven in a real brine with a low lithium content (0.7 mm), and an actual recovery experiment is conducted in a flow setup.

Involved external institutions

Fraunhofer-Institut für Werkstoff- und Strahltechnik (IWS) / Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology

Germany (DE) King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology

Saudi Arabia (SA)

How to cite

APA:

Hippauf, F., Abendroth, T., Neidhardt, J., Althues, H., Aljlil, S.A., Alrasheed, R.A.,... Kaskel, S. (2021). Increasing the Stability of LiMn2O4 Against Harsh Conditions During Lithium Recovery from Real Brine Solutions. Energy Technology, 9(8). https://doi.org/10.1002/ente.202100145

MLA:

Hippauf, Felix, et al. "Increasing the Stability of LiMn2O4 Against Harsh Conditions During Lithium Recovery from Real Brine Solutions." Energy Technology 9.8 (2021).

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