Recovery of lithium in seawater using a titanium intercalated lithium manganese oxide composite

Abstract In this study, recovery of lithium in seawater using a titanium-intercalated lithium manganese oxide composite (LTMO) was investigated along with its adsorption capacity and durability. To minimize manganese dissolution during the extraction of Li + by acidic treatment, a spinel type of LTMO was synthesized by the high-energy milling of a titania (TiO 2 ), lithium carbonate (Li 2 CO 3 ), and manganese carbonate (MnCO 3 ) mixture and subsequent heat treatment. X-ray diffraction and thermogravimetric analyzer confirmed that Ti was well intercalated into the spinel structure of lithium manganese oxide (LMO). The effects of calcination temperature and Ti content on LTMO structure, lithium uptake, and adsorbent stability were investigated. Kinetic analysis showed that adsorption by LTMO followed pseudo-second-order kinetics, with a correlation coefficient in excess of 0.99. Adsorption by LTMO fitted the Langmuir isotherm well, with a correlation coefficient higher than 0.99, and LTMO exhibited higher theoretical maximum adsorption capacity than LMO (up to 21.9 mg g −1 vs. 19.6 mg g −1 ). In addition, LTMO showed high selectivity for lithium ions in the presence of competitive cations.