A New Triketone Ligand for Extraction of Lithium from Brines**
This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle LLC under Contract No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the US Department of Energy. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript or allow others to do so, for US Government purposes. The DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan.
Graphical Abstract
A novel triketone ligand was synthesized and characterized for lithium extraction with and without four synergistic co-ligands. The tricarbonyl amide and the synergistic co-ligand Cyanex-923 absorbed on a resin support were used to extract dilute brine simulants achieving up to 60 % lithium recovery.
Abstract
Recovery of lithium from brines by liquid-liquid solvent extraction (LLE) with diketones and synergistic co-ligands has been investigated for decades, but industrial application has been limited. In pursuit of a ligand with improved properties, a series of ketonamides with beta-carbonyl groups were designed, synthesized, and tested in extraction of lithium from sulfate and carbonate simulants of clay mineral tailing leachates. The best performing ligand, a novel tricarbonyl amide, was characterized for lithium extraction with and without four synergistic co-ligands. The tricarbonyl amide combined with the synergistic co-ligand Cyanex-923 was absorbed on a resin support. The ligand-modified resin was tested for performance in extraction of dilute brine simulants and up to 60 % recovery of lithium was achieved.
Conflict of Interests
The authors declare the following competing interest(s): A patent application has been filed on the use of these ligands. Popovs, I.; Musrock, H.; Johnson, K. R.; Moyer, B. A. Lithium extractant compounds and their use in selective lithium extraction from aqueous solutions. US Patent 17/726,890, November 10, 2022.
Open Research
Data Availability Statement
The data that support the findings of this study are available in the supplementary material of this article.
