Preparation of titanium-base lithium ionic sieve with sodium persulfate as eluent and its performance

- Li2TiO3 eluted with 0.8 mol/L Na2S2O8 had a better application performance.
- The lithium adsorption process followed the pseudo-second-order kinetics mode.
- Cations like Na+, K+ and Mg2+ had a little effect on the adsorption performance.

Lithium ionic sieve precursor Li2TiO3 was synthesized by a solid-phase reaction with Li2CO3 and TiO2 as the raw materials. The effect of the roasting temperature, the roasting time and the molar ratio of Li2CO3/TiO2 on the synthesis of precursor were investigated respectively. The precursor was eluted with 0.8 mol/L sodium persulfate (Na2S2O8), the lithium adsorption properties after elution and its lithium uptakes in different aqueous solutions containing lithium were investigated respectively. The structure and surface morphology of the samples were characterized by XRD (X-ray diffraction) and SEM (scanning electron microscope). The results indicated that the optimal synthesis conditions of monoclinic lithium metatitanate (Li2TiO3) were n(Li2CO3/TiO2) = 1.05, baking temperature of 850 °C for 5 h with a heating rate of 4 °C/min; the precursor eluted with 0.8 mol/L Na2S2O8 showed better performance, and its adsorption process followed the pseudo-second-order kinetics mode; coexisting metal ions such as Na+, K+ and Mg2+ had a little effect on the adsorption performance.