ABSTRACT
Lithium extraction from natural resources is an accelerating field of research owing to its growing demand in the medical, nuclear, battery, and air conditioning industries. Lithium compounds are used in various industries, including ceramics, glass, lubricant gases, rocket propellant, and aluminum production. The extraction of lithium from seawater via adsorption using AlCl3.6 H2O as an adsorbent is investigated in this study. The effect of process parameters such as pH, temperature, contact time, the molar ratio ([Al3+]/[Li+]), and stirring rate on process efficiency is investigated and optimized. The response surface methodology (RSM) is used to investigate the effects of operating parameters and choose the optimal configuration. A standard synthetic solution containing 50 ppm lithium is prepared and experimented with facilitating comprehension of the procedure. The adsorption efficiency of a synthetic solution is 88% at optimized values, while that of seawater is 78.5%. Seawater has a lower efficiency because it contains ions such as Mg2+, Ca2+, K+, and Na+ that compete for active points/sites during adsorption with lithium ions (Li+).
Highlights
An efficient investigation of lithium extraction from seawater utilizing an appropriate adsorption methodology.
An assessment was conducted on the adsorption of lithium from seawater using AlCl3.6H2O as an adsorbent.
An evaluation was conducted to examine the impact of process factors, including pH, temperature, contact time, molar ratio, and stirring rate, on the efficiency of the process.
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the coal and renewable energy centers of the NFC Institute of Engineering and Technology (NFC-IET), Multan, Pakistan, for their support.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Maham Hussain
Maham Hussain: Conceptualization, Supervision, Project administration, Review, and editing.
Fahim Uddin
Fahim Uddin: Software, Formal analysis, original draft writing, Review, and editing.
Nadeem Raza
Nadeem Raza: Original draft writing, formal analysis.
Waqas Aleem
Waqas Aleem: Validating review and editing, orifical draft writing
Sadiq Hussain
Sadiq Hussain: Conceptualization, Supervision, Project administration
Alamin Idris
Alamin Idris: Validating Review and editing, orifical draft writing.
Salman Qadir
Salman Qadir: Original draft writing, formal analysis.