A rational strategy for synchronous extraction of lithium and boron from salt lake brines

A new strategy for synchronous lithium-boron extraction from brines was proposed based on the anionic interchangeability and plate composition tuning of Li/Al-LDHs. It was stated that the available boron could have a significant enhancement on the Li+ adsorption dependent on the co-adsorption and expanded layer spacing. Besides, pH had a significant regulating effect on the boron adsorption/desorption performance owing to the variational existence forms. Synchronous extraction experiments showed that in the low-salt system, the lithium-boron approach got a better extraction for both lithium and boron resources, whereas in the high-salt brines, the boron-lithium approach was obviously more appropriate with an extraction of 82.13% lithium and 85.88% boron by reason of the high desorption driving capacity. Combined with further application validation, the boron-lithium strategy could finally achieve a lithium resource utilization rate of 84.19% and a boron resource utilization rate of 95.02% for the Yiliping salt lake brine.

Automated summary

A new strategy for synchronously extracting lithium and boron from brines is proposed based on the anionic interchangeability and plate composition tuning of Li/Al-LDHs. The study shows that available boron significantly enhances the Li+ adsorption through co-adsorption and expanded layer spacing. Moreover, pH plays a significant role in regulating the adsorption/desorption performance of boron due to its variable existence forms. Synchronous extraction experiments demonstrate that in the low-salt system, the lithium-boron approach achieves better extraction for both lithium and boron, while in high-salt brines, the boron-lithium approach is more suitable with a high desorption driving capacity, resulting in an extraction of 82.13% lithium and 85.88% boron. Combined with further application validation, the boron-lithium strategy can achieve a lithium resource utilization rate of 84.19% and a boron resource utilization rate of 95.02% for the Yiliping salt lake brine.