Process of extraction of lithium from a material comprising lithium and at least another metal
Lithium is extracted from a material comprising lithium and at least another metal, such as a transition or post-transition metal, by a process using a polyol solvent and a carbonate and a solvothermal treatment. A liquid containing lithium carbonate can be separated. Solid lithium carbonate can be isolated from the liquid containing lithium carbonate.
1 . A process of extraction of lithium from a material comprising lithium and at least another metal, said process comprising the following steps:
a) contacting said material with a polyol solvent and at least one metal carbonate to obtain a reaction mixture;
b) performing a solvothermal treatment of the reaction mixture obtained in step a) to obtain a solvothermally treated composition SP1;
c) separating a liquid L1 containing lithium carbonate and a solid S1 forming the solvothermally treated composition SP1 obtained in step b); and
d) optionally, isolating solid lithium carbonate from the liquid L1.
2 . The process according to claim 1 , comprising, after step c) and optional step d), the following steps:
e) contacting the solid S1 with water to obtain a composition SP2;
f) separating a liquid L2 containing lithium carbonate and a solid S2 forming the composition SP2 obtained in step e); and
g) optionally, isolating solid lithium carbonate from the liquid L2.
3 . The process according to claim 2 , wherein the solid S1 obtained in step c) is, prior to step e), washed with a solvent in which lithium carbonate is not soluble.
4 . The process according to claim 2 , wherein the at least another metal is at least a magnetic metal, or at least a magnetic metal and at least a non magnetic metal, and wherein the separating step f) is preceded by a magnetic separating step f1), to isolate the at least a magnetic metal from the composition SP2.
5 . The process according to claim 2 , of lithium-ion battery cathode recycling, wherein step a) is preceded by a step of recovery of a lithium-ion battery cathode material from a lithium-ion battery, and wherein step g) is performed and is optionally followed by a step of use of lithium, the at least another metal, or lithium and the at least another metal in a new process or device.
6 . The process of claim 2 , wherein step g) is performed.
7 . The process according to claim 1 , wherein the at least another metal is chosen from transition metals and post-transition metals.
8 . The process according to claim 1 , wherein the material is a lithium-ion battery cathode material or a lithium ore.
9 . The process according to claim 1 , wherein the polyol solvent is chosen from the group consisting of ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, tetraethylene glycol, propylene diol, liquid polyethylene glycols, butylene glycol, and glycerol.
10 . The process according to claim 1 , further including steps of repeating steps a)-c) and optional step d) on a fresh batch of said material, wherein the polyol solvent used in the repeated step a) is the liquid L1 of the previous step c).
11 . The process according to claim 1 , wherein the solvothermal treatment of step b) is performed at a temperature over the boiling point of the polyol solvent and under 500° C.
12 . The process according to claim 1 , wherein the solvothermal treatment of step b) is performed at a pressure above atmospheric pressure.
13 . The process according to claim 1 , wherein the solvothermal treatment of step b) is performed for 1 hour to 1 week.
14 . The process according to claim 1 , of lithium-ion battery cathode recycling, wherein step a) is preceded by a step of recovery of a lithium-ion battery cathode material from a lithium-ion battery, and wherein step d) is performed and is optionally followed by a step of use of lithium, the at least another metal, or lithium and the at least another metal in a new process or device.
15 . The process of claim 14 , wherein the step of use of lithium, the at least another metal, or lithium and the at least another metal in a new process or device is performed.
16 . The process of claim 1 , wherein step d) is performed.
17 . A process of extraction of lithium from a material comprising lithium and at least another metal, said process comprising the following steps:
a) contacting said material with a polyol solvent and a carbonate to obtain a reaction mixture;
b) performing a solvothermal treatment of the reaction mixture obtained in step a) to obtain a solvothermally treated composition SP1;
c) separating a liquid L1 containing lithium carbonate and a solid S1 forming the solvothermally treated composition SP1 obtained in step b);
d) optionally, isolating solid lithium carbonate from the liquid L1;
e) washing the solid S1 with a solvent in which lithium carbonate is not soluble;
f) contacting the solid S1 with water to obtain a composition SP2;
g) separating a liquid L2 containing lithium carbonate and a solid S2 forming the composition SP2 obtained in step f); and
h) optionally, isolating solid lithium carbonate from the liquid L2.