Yu Xiaoping

Extraction of lithium from salt lake brine with triisobutyl phosphate in ionic liquid and kerosene

Three ionic liquids(ILs), namely, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis[(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl]imide and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis[(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl] imide with the triisobutyl phosphate(TIBP) and kerosene system were respectively used to extract lithium ion from salt lake brine with a high concentration ratio of magnesium and lithium experimentally. Results indicate that the highest extraction selectivity for lithium was obtained with IL 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis[(trifluoromethyl)-sulfonyl]imide. The effects of solution pH and phase ratio R(O/A) on the extractive step and the influence of acid concentration of the stripping solution and R(O/A) on the back extraction step were also investigated systematically. The single-step extraction efficiency of lithium ion was 83.71% under the optimal extraction conditions, and the single-step back extraction efficiency was 85.61% with a 1.0 mol/L HCl in 1.0 mol/L NaCl medium as stripping agent at R(O/A)=2. The liquid-liquid extraction mechanism and the complex of the ligand with lithium were proposed.

Metastable Phase Equilibrium in the Reciprocal Quaternary System LiCl+MgCl 2 +Li 2 SO 4 +MgSO 4 +H 2 O at 348.15 K and 0.1 MPa

The metastable solubilities and the physicochemical properties including density and pH of the reciprocal quaternary system(LiCl+MgCl2+Li2SO4+MgSO4+H2O) at 348.15 K and 0.1 MPa were determined using the isother-mal evaporation method. The dry-salt diagram and water-phase diagram were plotted based on the experimental data. There are five invariant points, eleven univariant curves, and seven crystallization zones corresponding to hexahy-drite, tetrahydrite, kieserite, bischofite, lithium sulfate monohydrate, lithium chloride monohydrate and lithium car-nallite. Comparison between the stable and metastable diagrams at 348.15 K indicates that the metastable phenome-non of magnesium sulfate is obvious, and the crystallization regions of hexahydrite and tetrahydrite disappear in the stable phase diagram. A comparison of the metastable dry-salt phase diagrams at 308.15, 323.15 and 348.15 K shows that with the increasing of temperature the epsomite crystallization zone disappears from the dry-salt phase diagram of 303.15 K, and a new kieserite crystallization zone is presented at 348.15 K. The density and pH in the metastable equilibrium solution present regular change with the increasing of Jänecke index J(2Li+), and the calculated densities using the empirical equation agree well with the experimental values.