Thermo-osmosis-Coupled Thermally Regenerative Electrochemical Cycle for Efficient Lithium Extraction.
Ziwen YuanYanxi YuLi WeiCheng WangXia ZhongXiao SuiZixun YuDong Suk HanHo Kyong ShonYuan ChenPublished in: ACS applied materials & interfaces (2021)
Lithium (Li) production based on the soda evaporation process is time-consuming and unsustainable. The emerging electrochemical Li extraction is time-efficient but requires high-concentration Li sources and significant electrical energy input. Here, we demonstrate a fast, energy-saving, and environment-friendly Li production process by coupling a thermally regenerative electrochemical cycle (TREC) using lithium manganese oxide (LMO) and nickel hexacyanoferrate (NiHCF) electrodes with poly(vinylidene fluoride) membrane-based thermo-osmosis (denoted as TO-TREC). The characterization of LMO and NiHCF electrodes confirmed that the relatively high temperature of TO-TREC has negligible adverse effects on the ion intercalation in LMO and NiHCF electrodes. The LMO/NiHCF pair has a positive temperature coefficient of 0.843 mV K-1. In the TO-TREC process, Li ions are selectively extracted from a Li-containing brine warmed by low-grade heat and then released into a room-temperature recovery solution such as LiCl with a production rate of 50-60 mmol Li+ m-2 h-1. Li source solutions are concentrated by thermo-osmosis simultaneously, making it possible to utilize previously unusable Li-containing sources, such as concentrated brines from desalination plants and industrial effluents. Besides, the TREC harvests thermal energy from the heated brine, saving >20% of electrical energy compared to conventional electrochemical methods. The new process shows the potential to meet the growing global Li demands for many applications.
Keyphrases
- solid state
- ion batteries
- room temperature
- low grade
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- stem cells
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- mesenchymal stem cells
- molecularly imprinted
- wastewater treatment
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- high resolution
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- electron transfer
- heat stress
- simultaneous determination
- human health