Solar-driven ultrafast lithium extraction from low-grade brine using microfluidics-mediated vortex in scalable electrochemical reactors

Xianyun Zhang; Zhen Li; Jiang Liu; Fuzong Xu; Leiliang Zheng; Stefaan De Wolf; Zhiping Lai; Xu Lu

doi:10.1016/j.cej.2022.140074

Solar-driven ultrafast lithium extraction from low-grade brine using microfluidics-mediated vortex in scalable electrochemical reactors

Xianyun Zhang, Zhen Li, Jiang Liu, Fuzong Xu, Leiliang Zheng, Stefaan De Wolf, Zhiping Lai^*, Xu Lu

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

Electrochemical lithium (Li) extraction from low-grade salt lake brine, when powered by off-grid renewables, represents a potential approach to meeting the substantially increasing demand for battery-grade Li₂CO₃. However, this technology has been drastically challenged by the low extraction rate and high production cost, largely due to the lack of research on reactor engineering and system scale-out. Herein, we rationally designed a scalable spiral-microstructured electrochemical reactor (SMER) to accomplish ultrafast and economical Li extraction under harsh brine conditions by virtue of significantly accelerated mass transfer. We showcased that the SMER was stably operated at a Li extraction rate over 5.6 times as much as that of state-of-art devices, and could be up-scaled for commercial production of battery-grade Li₂CO₃ driven by solar cells. This work lays the ground for sustainable Li extraction from remote low-grade salt lake brine and can be readily applied to more minable Li reserves/resources.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	140074
Journal	Chemical Engineering Journal
Volume	454
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2022.140074
State	Published - Feb 15 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
X.L. acknowledges financial support from Baseline Funds (BAS/1/1413-01-01) from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). Z.P.L. acknowledges Baseline Funds (BAS/1/1375-01-01) and Competitive Research Fund under Award No. URF/1/4713-01 from KAUST. S.D.W. acknowledges the KAUST Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) under Award Nos. OSR-CARF/CCF-3079, IED OSR-2019-4208 and CRG2019-4093. This research used resources from the Core Laboratories of KAUST. The authors thank Thomas Allen and Maxime Babics for their contributions in tandem solar cell fabrication and module lamination.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier B.V.

Keywords

Electrochemical reactors
Low-grade salt lake Brine
Ultrafast lithium extraction
Vortex

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Chemistry
Environmental Chemistry
General Chemical Engineering
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.cej.2022.140074

Cite this

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title = "Solar-driven ultrafast lithium extraction from low-grade brine using microfluidics-mediated vortex in scalable electrochemical reactors",

abstract = "Electrochemical lithium (Li) extraction from low-grade salt lake brine, when powered by off-grid renewables, represents a potential approach to meeting the substantially increasing demand for battery-grade Li2CO3. However, this technology has been drastically challenged by the low extraction rate and high production cost, largely due to the lack of research on reactor engineering and system scale-out. Herein, we rationally designed a scalable spiral-microstructured electrochemical reactor (SMER) to accomplish ultrafast and economical Li extraction under harsh brine conditions by virtue of significantly accelerated mass transfer. We showcased that the SMER was stably operated at a Li extraction rate over 5.6 times as much as that of state-of-art devices, and could be up-scaled for commercial production of battery-grade Li2CO3 driven by solar cells. This work lays the ground for sustainable Li extraction from remote low-grade salt lake brine and can be readily applied to more minable Li reserves/resources.",

keywords = "Electrochemical reactors, Low-grade salt lake Brine, Ultrafast lithium extraction, Vortex",

author = "Xianyun Zhang and Zhen Li and Jiang Liu and Fuzong Xu and Leiliang Zheng and {De Wolf}, Stefaan and Zhiping Lai and Xu Lu",

note = "Funding Information: X.L. acknowledges financial support from Baseline Funds (BAS/1/1413-01-01) from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). Z.P.L. acknowledges Baseline Funds (BAS/1/1375-01-01) and Competitive Research Fund under Award No. URF/1/4713-01 from KAUST. S.D.W. acknowledges the KAUST Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) under Award Nos. OSR-CARF/CCF-3079, IED OSR-2019-4208 and CRG2019-4093. This research used resources from the Core Laboratories of KAUST. The authors thank Thomas Allen and Maxime Babics for their contributions in tandem solar cell fabrication and module lamination. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 Elsevier B.V.",

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AU - Zhang, Xianyun

AU - Li, Zhen

AU - Liu, Jiang

AU - Xu, Fuzong

AU - Zheng, Leiliang

AU - De Wolf, Stefaan

AU - Lai, Zhiping

AU - Lu, Xu

N1 - Funding Information: X.L. acknowledges financial support from Baseline Funds (BAS/1/1413-01-01) from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). Z.P.L. acknowledges Baseline Funds (BAS/1/1375-01-01) and Competitive Research Fund under Award No. URF/1/4713-01 from KAUST. S.D.W. acknowledges the KAUST Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) under Award Nos. OSR-CARF/CCF-3079, IED OSR-2019-4208 and CRG2019-4093. This research used resources from the Core Laboratories of KAUST. The authors thank Thomas Allen and Maxime Babics for their contributions in tandem solar cell fabrication and module lamination. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 Elsevier B.V.

PY - 2023/2/15

Y1 - 2023/2/15

N2 - Electrochemical lithium (Li) extraction from low-grade salt lake brine, when powered by off-grid renewables, represents a potential approach to meeting the substantially increasing demand for battery-grade Li2CO3. However, this technology has been drastically challenged by the low extraction rate and high production cost, largely due to the lack of research on reactor engineering and system scale-out. Herein, we rationally designed a scalable spiral-microstructured electrochemical reactor (SMER) to accomplish ultrafast and economical Li extraction under harsh brine conditions by virtue of significantly accelerated mass transfer. We showcased that the SMER was stably operated at a Li extraction rate over 5.6 times as much as that of state-of-art devices, and could be up-scaled for commercial production of battery-grade Li2CO3 driven by solar cells. This work lays the ground for sustainable Li extraction from remote low-grade salt lake brine and can be readily applied to more minable Li reserves/resources.

AB - Electrochemical lithium (Li) extraction from low-grade salt lake brine, when powered by off-grid renewables, represents a potential approach to meeting the substantially increasing demand for battery-grade Li2CO3. However, this technology has been drastically challenged by the low extraction rate and high production cost, largely due to the lack of research on reactor engineering and system scale-out. Herein, we rationally designed a scalable spiral-microstructured electrochemical reactor (SMER) to accomplish ultrafast and economical Li extraction under harsh brine conditions by virtue of significantly accelerated mass transfer. We showcased that the SMER was stably operated at a Li extraction rate over 5.6 times as much as that of state-of-art devices, and could be up-scaled for commercial production of battery-grade Li2CO3 driven by solar cells. This work lays the ground for sustainable Li extraction from remote low-grade salt lake brine and can be readily applied to more minable Li reserves/resources.

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Solar-driven ultrafast lithium extraction from low-grade brine using microfluidics-mediated vortex in scalable electrochemical reactors

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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