Lithium Extraction from Brine using Li/Al Layered Double Hydroxide Chloride

Abstract

The demand of lithium batteries is projected to almost double by the year 2025, between big consumers such as Panasonic and Tesla. Most of the lithium produced for batteries is done so through open pit mining and extraction from salt-lake brines. A new method to selectively extract lithium from brines uses sorbents. This project focused on synthesizing high surface area nanoparticle lithium-aluminum layered double hydroxide chloride sorbent using nanoparticle precursors, gibbsite. SEM analysis of the reactants and products provides early evidence that this is a viable synthetic path.