High Stability Titanium Adsorbents for Lithium Recovery from Alkaline Salt Lake Brine: A Long-Term Pilot Study

Pilot studies and the long-term stability of titanium-based ion sieve adsorbents for salt lake lithium extraction are rarely reported. In this study, the influence of different experimental conditions on the adsorption performance of the titanium adsorbent was tested using a pilot-scale device and alkaline brine from Laguo Co Salt Lake in Xizang, China. Subsequently, 600 cycles of continuous adsorption and desorption tests were conducted to study the long-term stability of the titanium adsorbent over 5 months. Li + recovery and Li + adsorption capacity of the adsorbent were around 80% and 2.20 g/L. The concentrations of Li +, Na +, K +, Mg 2+, Ca 2+, and B 3+ in the desorption tailings were around 1.5, 0.65, 0.15, 0.50, 0.18, and 0.04 g/L, respectively. Additionally, these performance parameters did not significantly deteriorate over 600 cycles of the pilot scale tests. XRD, SEM, and contact angle measurements showed that the main component of the adsorbent was lithium metatitanate, with numerous irregular pores promoting mass transfer efficiency. Additionally, the adsorbent demonstrated good hydrophilic properties, enabling full contact with the brine and achieving efficient adsorption and lithium recovery.