Abstract
A membrane electrodialysis process was tested for obtaining battery grade lithium hydroxide from lithium brines. Currently, in the conventional procedure, a brine with Li+ 4–6 wt% is fed to a process to form lithium carbonate and further used to produce lithium hydroxide. The disadvantages of this process are its high cost due to several stage requirement and the usage of lime, causing waste generation. The main objective of this work is to demonstrate the feasibility of obtaining battery grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate, avoiding production of lithium carbonate. A laboratory cell was constructed to study electrochemical kinetics and determine energetic parameters. The effects of current density, electrode material, electrolyte concentration, temperature and cationic membrane (Nafion 115 and Nafion 117) on cell performance were determined. Tests showed that a current density of 1200 A/m2 and temperatures between 75–85 °C allow reduced specific electricity consumption (SEC) (7.25 kWh/kg LiOH). A high purity product is obtained at temperatures below 75 °C, with a Nafion 117 membrane and low electrolyte concentration. Resulting key electrochemical data would enable a pilot-scale process implementation to obtain lithium compounds.
Highlights
Lithium possesses unique properties, making this material the most promising for electrical and thermal energy storage applications [1,2]
Battery grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate is a high purity product. It is suitable for application in the production of cathodic materials for lithium ion batteries and is used as raw material for the production of other high purity lithium compounds
According to equation (3), the results show that a low cell voltage implies a specific electrical and (IR)m the anolyte, catholyte and membrane potential drops [35]
Summary
Lithium possesses unique properties, making this material the most promising for electrical and thermal energy storage applications [1,2]. Lithium batteries have large energy charge and discharge capacity and no memory effect. They are suitable for application in mobile devices, electric vehicles and energy storage systems. Lithium is used for manufacturing cathodic materials: LiCoO2 , LiFePO4 , Li2 MnO4 , among others. For this purpose, lithium salts such as lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide are used as raw materials, requiring high purity for their application. Battery grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate is a high purity product (min 99.3%). It is suitable for application in the production of cathodic materials for lithium ion batteries and is used as raw material for the production of other high purity lithium compounds
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