Lithium extraction from shale gas flowback and produced water using H1.33Mn1.67O4 adsorbent

The rapid growth of demand for lithium, especially in lithium batteries calls for an increase in the supply of lithium resources. We synthesized H1.33Mn1.67O4 adsorbent by solid-phase reaction method to recover lithium for the first time from shale gas flowback and produced water (SGFPW) in the Sichuan Basin, China. Na2CO3 precipitation pre-treatment was employed to improve the adsorption capacity and selectivity of lithium. The adsorption capacity of lithium in the pre-treated water (P-SGFPW) was 16.24 mg/g higher than that in SGFPW (13.27 mg/g), and the partition coefficient of Li+ increased from 731.58 to 1073.58 mL/g after precipitation. After four cycles of adsorption and desorption, the adsorption capacity of lithium was stable and showed only a slight decrease equal to 3.53% and 5.35% in P-SGFPW and SGFPW, respectively. H1.33Mn1.67O4 is a promising adsorbent for lithium extraction from SGFPW, and precipitation before adsorption can improve its performance significantly.