PFI-TT: Concentrating and Separating Lithium from Brine Sources

Princeton University, Princeton NJ

Investigators

Abstract

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project is in solving the problem of lithium sourcing, which is an important mineral used in clean energy technologies. Right now, the United States only produces about 1% of the world's lithium, so it is crucial to increase the domestic supply. The team has developed an innovative way to extract lithium from brines, which are enriched water solutions, using a process called interfacial evaporation. This process is very effective and cost-efficient. This project aims to take this new technology from the laboratory and make it usable in real-world processes and products. By doing this, more low-cost lithium will be available to support the clean energy economy initiatives of the US. Throughout the project, the team will work with partners to recruit students from underrepresented backgrounds and provide them with training in both technology development and entrepreneurship. The team will gain valuable insights and connections through I-Corps program. Additionally, educational videos will be created to help people understand why lithium extraction is important and how it fits into the overall life cycle of clean energy technologies. The project will enable technology and business development of the novel interfacial evaporation process to extract lithium chemical from brine sources. While current lithium mining can be energy, chemical, and land-intensive, this process can accelerate the extraction by 10 folds by easy integration with existing processes. The 3D fiber evaporator allows for sequential and separable crystallization of cation species with various concentrations, mobilities, and solubilities induced by capillary and evaporative flows. As a result, other salts reach their saturation points and precipitate along the evaporator length, while lithium chloride passes through and is collected as a concentrate. To make this technology viable for real-world applications, the project will fill the knowledge gap in crystallization and separation mechanisms and overcome several technical barriers including addressing interfacing ions in actual brine conditions, developing more efficient operation and separation processes, characterizing the impact of environmental conditions, and optimizing materials and reactor systems for scalable and reliable operation. It is expected that scale up will achieve a high evaporation rate at 200 mm/day and recover over 90% of the lithium, which will greatly improve from the current efficiency of 10 mm/day evaporation and less than 50% recovery by commercial processes. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.