Effect of chemical treatments on lithium recovery process of activated carbons

• Activated carbons(ACs) were chemically treated by acid-base solutions.
• Adsorption capacity of the prepared ACs was improved after chemical treatments.
• The base-treated ACs exhibited the highest lithium ion adsorption capacity.

In this work, surface characteristics of chemically treated activated carbons (ACs) were studied for lithium ion in aqueous solution. From the results, it was found that the chemical treatments introduced functional groups onto the ACs surfaces. The amount of lithium ion recovery was enhanced by basic treatments. Also, we characterized lithium ion adsorption-desorption efficiency. The lithium adsorption-desorption efficiency exhibited good stability after five adsorption–desorption cycles. Consequently, it could be concluded that lithium ion recovery behaviors are greatly influenced by the basic characteristics of AC surfaces, resulting in enhanced electron acceptor-donor interaction at interfaces.

Lithium ion adsorption capacities of the prepared ACs between 0.0 and 0.9 wt%.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide