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Lithium Extraction from Molten LiOH by Using a Liquid Tin Cathode

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Abstract

Lithium is a critical metal with a wide range of applications in energy, electronics, and chemical industry. Currently, the industrial method for Li metal extraction relies on electrolysis of molten LiCl and suffers from various safety, cost, and environmental issues. In this work, we report electrochemical extraction of Li from molten LiOH by using a liquid tin (Sn) cathode. The use of liquid Sn cathode offers various advantages, such as lowering the dissociation potential of LiOH and easy collection of the metallic Li. Electrochemical and materials characterization results reveal that a plunge of electrolysis current occurs in the electrolyser without using a porous alumina membrane, due to the formation of a Li2O passivation layer at the cathode/electrolyte interface. In the electrolyser with a porous alumina membrane, continuous electrolysis has been achieved, and the side surface of the liquid Sn is identified to be the effective interface for Li electrodeposition. In addition, we demonstrate the use of the Li–Sn product for the synthesis of acetylene (C2H2), a widely used fuel and chemical feedstock.

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Acknowledgements

This material was based upon work supported by the startup funding from ShanghaiTech University. The authors would like to thank Qinghai Yang for the technical assistance in SEM characterization. Part of the work was performed at the Analytical Instrumentation Center (No. SPST-AIC10112914) and the Center for High-resolution Electron Microscopy (CħEM, No. EM02161943) at ShanghaiTech University.

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  1. School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, 201210, China

    Zujian Tang & Xiaofei Guan

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  1. Zujian Tang
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Correspondence to Xiaofei Guan.

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Tang, Z., Guan, X. Lithium Extraction from Molten LiOH by Using a Liquid Tin Cathode. J. Sustain. Metall. 7, 203–214 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40831-021-00339-1

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