Carbon dioxide utilization in lithium carbonate precipitation: A short review

Abstract

The market for lithium-ion batteries (LiBs) is growing rapidly, the demand for lithium (Li) in the form of lithium carbonate (Li<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub>), which is the most common lithium mineralization form, is therefore also increasing significantly. Li is conventionally extracted as Li<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub> using sodium carbonate (Na<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub>) to precipitate Li ions in an aqueous Li solution. However, Na<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub> can also be replaced by CO<sub>2</sub>, which highlights the potential of using CO<sub>2</sub> as a sustainable and economically viable alternative. This review focuses on technologies that utilize CO<sub>2</sub> for Li<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>2</sub> precipitation. First, the use of CO<sub>2</sub> gas and Na<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub> as carbonate sources are compared, and the need to consider important operating conditions with CO<sub>2</sub> bubbling are then presented. Attempts made to increase the specific surface area of the reaction surface to enhance the utilization of CO<sub>2</sub> gas and to produce micro-sized Li<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub> powders are then reported, and the limitations associated with CO<sub>2</sub> gas utilization are discussed. Although CO<sub>2</sub> precipitation has limitations in terms of efficiency, scalability, and the fine-tuning of reaction conditions, this review shows that if CO<sub>2</sub> precipitation technology is further developed, its use could be key to extracting and recycling next-generation Li.