Back to results
US 4,116,858 AGranted
Recovery of lithium from brines
AssigneeThe Dow Chemical Company
InventorsJohn M. Lee, William C. Bauman
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Lithium is preferentially extracted from brine containing Li salts along with salts of other metals, e.g. Na, Ca, Mg, K, and/or B, by contacting the brine with a particulate anion exchange resin having suspended therein a microcrystalline form of LiX.2Al(OH).sub.3, where X = halide.
Claims10
A particulate, anion exchange resin having suspended therein a microcrystalline form of LiX.2Al(OH).sub.3, where X is a halogen.
A process for preparing a particulate, anion exchange resin having microcrystalline LiX.2Al(OH).sub.3 suspended therein, where X = halogen, said process comprising
- impregnating a particulate, anion exchange resin with an aqueous AlCl.sub.3 solution,
- contacting the so-formed AlCl.sub.3 - containing resin with an amount of NH.sub.4 OH sufficient to convert the AlCl.sub.3 to Al(OH).sub.3 and, if the resin is in the acid form, enough to convert the resin to the base form,
- contacting the so-formed Al(OH).sub.3 - containing resin with an aqueous solution containing lithium halide, thereby forming a lithium aluminate complex, and
- heating the resulting mixture at a temperature and for a time sufficient to convert the lithium aluminate complex to a microcrystalline structure having the formula LiX.2Al(OH).sub.3, where X is a halogen.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.