Manganese-Titanium Mixed Ion Sieves for the Selective Adsorption of Lithium Ions from an Artificial Salt Lake Brine

Lithium recovery is imperative to accommodate the increase in lithium demand. Salt lake brine contains a large amount of lithium and is one of the most important sources of lithium metal. In this study, Li2CO3, MnO2, and TiO2 particles were mixed, and the precursor of a manganese–titanium mixed ion sieve (M-T-LIS) was prepared by a high-temperature solid-phase method. M-T-LISs were obtained by DL-malic acid pickling. The adsorption experiment results noted single-layer chemical adsorption and maximum lithium adsorption of 32.32 mg/g. From the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller and scanning electron microscopy results, the M-T-LIS provided adsorption sites after DL-malic acid pickling. In addition, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared results showed the ion exchange mechanism of the M-T-LIS adsorption. From the results of the Li+ desorption experiment and recoverability experiment, DL-malic acid was used to desorb Li+ from the M-T-LIS with a desorption rate of more than 90%. During the fifth cycle, the Li+ adsorption capacity of the M-T-LIS was more than 20 mg/g (25.90 mg/g), and the recovery efficiency was higher than 80% (81.42%). According to the selectivity experiment, the M-T-LIS had good selectivity for Li+ (adsorption capacity of 25.85 mg/g in the artificial salt lake brine), which indicates its good application potential.