A new selective adsorbent for lithium was prepared by means of extracting Li
+ from Li
2Cr(PO
4)
1.67 using acid.
The fundamental ion exchange properties were investigated for the adsorbent. The selectivity sequence for alkali metal ions was Cs≅K<Na<Li at pH 8.
The adsorbent showed a selective adsorptivity for lithium in sea water. Concentration factors were above 3.3×10
4 for lithium, while below 8.0 for the other alkali metal ions.
The equilibrium lithium uptake reached 9.3 mg/g in sea water. This value corresponds to half of the lithium content of lithium ores such as petalite and lepidolite. Thus, this adsorbent demonstrated good adsorptivity next to that of spine 1-type manganese oxides. The adsorbent showed high acidity and selective adsorptivity for lithium at weak-acidity (pH 3) levels and the highest adsorptive capacity above pH 6.2.
The recovery of lithium from geothermal water and brine above pH 3 by using the present adsorbent has been proposed on the basis of these results.
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