Salt lake resources are rich in various valuable elements, especially lithium and boron, which play crucial roles in modern industry, such as in the production of lithium-ion batteries for new energy vehicles and high-tech boron-containing materials. However, the complex composition of salt lake brines, especially the high Mg/Li ratio in many brines, poses significant challenges to the efficient and green separation of these valuable elements. Li Lijuan's research team at the Qinghai Institute of Salt Lakes, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has been dedicated to addressing these challenges.
2.1 Lithium Separation Technologies
The research team has developed a series of novel extraction systems. For example, by designing and synthesizing specific extractants with high selectivity for lithium ions, they can effectively separate lithium from brines containing a large amount of magnesium and other impurities. In the process, they optimized the extraction conditions, including the selection of diluents, the ratio of extractant to diluent, and the extraction temperature and time. Through these optimizations, the lithium extraction rate has been significantly increased, reaching over 99% in some cases.
2.2 Boron Separation and Enrichment
In view of the low utilization rate and single-product structure of boron resources in salt lakes, the research group adopted an integrated technology of extraction and crystal reconstruction. They first used an appropriate extraction agent to extract boron from salt lake brines, and then through crystal reconstruction technology, the extracted boron was converted into high value-added boron products. This technology has significantly improved the recovery rate of boron resources in salt lakes, increasing it from the original 70% to over 95%.
Salt lake brines are rich in boron isotope resources. The team carried out in - depth research on the separation and enrichment of high-abundance 10B isotopes. By developing a new separation process based on ion exchange and chromatography, they made important progress in the separation of boron isotopes, laying a foundation for the production of highly valuable boron isotope containing products, which has important strategic significance for high-tech fields such as nuclear industry and new materials.
The research has achieved a series of key technical breakthroughs, solving the technical bottlenecks in the industrialization of high - value - added products from salt lake boron resources. The established new technologies for the efficient and green separation of lithium and magnesium in complex brine systems have overcome the common problems of magnesium by - product utilization in salt lakes.
These research results have great potential for industrial application, which can not only promote the comprehensive utilization of salt lake resources, improve the economic benefits of salt lake development, but also reduce the environmental impact caused by traditional resource development methods, contributing to the sustainable development of the salt lake industry. In addition, the development of high - value - added products of lithium and boron also provides strong support for the development of related strategic emerging industries.
In the future, the research will focus on further improving the efficiency and economy of separation technologies, exploring new separation mechanisms and materials, and strengthening the research and development of downstream high - value - added products. For example, efforts will be made to develop more efficient and environmentally friendly extractants and membranes, and to expand the application fields of lithium and boron products, such as in the development of new energy storage materials and high - performance composite materials.