Synthesis and Characterization of Titania Nanoribbons for Lithium Selective Adsorption

Mesoporous titania nanoribbons are synthesized via an optimized soft hydrothermal process and the derived titania ion-sieves with lithium selective adsorption property are accordingly prepared via a simple solid-phase reaction between Li2CO3 and TiO2 nanomaterials followed by the acid treatment process to extract lithium from the Li2TiO3 ternary oxide precursors. The physical chemistry structure are characterized by XRD, TEM/HRTEM, SAED and N2 adsorption-desorption analysis; and the lithium selective adsorption properties are tested by the adsorption isotherm measurement and demonstrated with the distribution coefficient of a series of alkaline and alkaline-earth metal ions. Though the high temperature calcinations and lithium insertion-extraction process resulted in the agglomeration of nanostructure to large bulky particles, it implied that that the low-dimensional titania nanoribbons might be functionalized to lithium ion-sieves with remarkable adsorption capacity and selectivity, promising in the utilization of lithium extraction from aqueous resources including brine or seawater.