Lithium purification from spent li-ion batteries leachate using ion exchange resin

Lithium is one of the limited natural resources that need to be recovered due to extensive usage in various rechargeable batteries. Recycling of valuable metals from spent Li-ion batteries (LIBs) has recently attracted attention due to natural resource depletion and circular economy initiatives. In this study, three different commercial resins were tested for Li recovery from remaining metal ions i.e. Si, Al and Fe ion in leaching solution of spent electrode of LIB using semi-continuous column adsorption. The optimum resin is the one that can retain all metals other than lithium. The adsorption capacity and selectivity of metal ions were compared between 3 types of resin. The optimum of lithium recovery and silica removal from LIBs leaching solution was found using DOWEX MSA anion resin with only 10.463% of Li ion uptake and 84.288% of Si ion removal can be obtained to produce Li-rich column effluent. It is shown also that the adsorption mechanism of the ions on DOWEX MSA anion resins follow pseudo second order model.