Ion-pair induced solvent extraction of lithium(Ⅰ)from acidic chloride solutions with tributyl phosphate

摘要

Lithium(Li)is an important energy metal in the 21st century.However,the selective recovery of Li is still a big challenge,especially from acidic solutions with multiple metal ions existence.Herein we report a new ion pair induced mechanism for selectively extracting Li^(+)from acidic chloride solutions by tributyl phosphate(TBP).It is shown that the acidity and the chloride ions in the aqueous phase have great effects on the extraction of Li^(+).The FT-IR,UV-Vis and ESI-MS experiments provide solid evidence for the formation of ion-pair complex[Li(TBP)_n(H_(2)O)_(m)]^(+)[FeCl_(4)]^(-)(n-1,2,3;m-0,1)in the organic phase,which brings about the effective and efficient extraction of Li^(+).This mechanism can overcome the Hofmeister bias and allow for the selective extraction of Li^(+)from the extremely hydrophilic chlorides.It has also been proved that the loaded Li in TBP can be effectively stripped by concentrated HCl solution with a Li/Fe separation factor>500.The understanding of the ion-pair transport mechanism is helpful for optimizing the recovery process or further advancing more efficient recovery techniques for Li from acidic liquor.