Separations (Jun 2024)

A Simple and Efficient Approach to Determine Lithium and Multi-Elements in Lithium-Bearing Clay Minerals through a Partial Extraction Using Ammonium Hydrogen Fluoride

  • Feige Zhang,
  • Qinfeng Zhang,
  • Zhigui Chen,
  • Xiaoqing Fang,
  • Xiaoqi Yu,
  • Guangyi Li,
  • Di Chen

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/separations11070200
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 7
p. 200

Abstract

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Lithium (Li) is vital to the world economy as an irreplaceable element in new-generation sustainable energy applications. Quantifying Li levels in clay minerals, a key new resource, supports extensive mineralization surveys. The major limitation in these analyses is complete decomposition, which often requires the use of strong acids and is labor-intensive, particularly in batch processing. This paper presents a partial extraction strategy for quantifying Li and multiple elements, employing ammonium hydrogen fluoride to extract from clay minerals while avoiding the use of various strong acids. Following extraction, the efficiency for Li reaches 98.61%, with values ranging from 62.68% to 91.43% for multiple elements including three major elements (Ca, Fe, Mg) and eleven trace elements (Be, Co, Cr, Cu, Ga, Mn, Ni, P, Rb, Sr, V), demonstrating favorable precision (RSD below 7.34%). This approach offers a promising tool for a simple and efficient batch analysis in the survey of mineralization in Li-bearing clay deposits.

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