CAS-SC: Thermally Switchable Organic Solvents for Targeted Harvesting of Lithium Ions from Alkali Metal Cations Mixtures in Hypersaline Brines

CAS-SC：用于从超咸盐水中的碱金属阳离子混合物中定向收获锂离子的热可切换有机溶剂

• 批准号: 2327627
• 负责人: Ngai Yin Yip
• 金额: $ 17.5万
• 依托单位: Columbia University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-09-01 至 2026-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2327627&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAS; SC; Thermally; Switchable; Organic

Developing new technologies to extract lithium from unconventional sources more efficiently and sustainably will enable the production and reuse of domestic lithium resources. Lithium can be found in geothermal brines and other unconventional sources such as oil and gas production waste streams. However, the lithium-ion concentration in these brines is much lower than other ions like sodium, potassium, and magnesium. Separating lithium from these brines is challenging because lithium is chemically similar to other alkali metal cations, including sodium and potassium. This project aims to advance a sustainable chemistry-based approach for extracting lithium ions from aqueous brines. The project will have several beneficial outcomes, including developing energy-efficient processes to recover and recycle critical minerals from waste, improving the efficiency of at-scale separation methods, using renewable energy more efficiently to drive separation processes, and finding sustainable alternatives to processes that rely on expensive and toxic chemicals. These advancements in lithium separation will have a transformative effect on energy security by increasing lithium production from conventional sources, unlocking lithium resources from unconventional sources, and making the recycling and reuse of existing lithium more economically viable. Additionally, the project includes educational and research components to train and prepare high school, undergraduate, and graduate students in STEM subjects.This project aims to understand the fundamental governing phenomena in switchable solvent extraction for ion-selective brine mining. The research integrates physical chemistry thermodynamic principles with bulk-phase experimental characterizations to improve selective ion separations. The specific project objectives are to: 1) establish the principal ion properties governing competitive partitioning behavior in biphasic mixtures of switchable solvents and hypersaline brines, 2) determine the intrinsic solvent structure-property relationship and ion-specific selectivity performance, and 3) formulate a thermodynamically-rigorous physical chemistry framework for a priori determination of ion activity coefficients in multicomponent biphasic systems. The research plan will systematically elucidate the underlying mechanisms of preferential ion partitioning in biphasic systems of oleo-solvents and multi-electrolyte aqueous brines. These mechanistic insights will inform future direct lithium extraction technology advancements. The project’s educational activities include (i) developing modules for K–12 education and public outreach, (ii) enhancing undergraduate and graduate courses, (iii) providing undergraduate research opportunities, and (iv) actively recruiting, mentoring, and advocating for underrepresented groups in STEM.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.

开发从非传统来源更有效和可持续地提取锂的新技术将使国内锂资源能够生产和再利用。锂可以在地热卤水和其他非常规来源中找到，如石油和天然气生产废水。然而，这些卤水中的锂离子浓度比钠、钾和镁等其他离子低得多。从这些卤水中分离锂是具有挑战性的，因为锂的化学结构类似于其他碱金属阳离子，包括钠和钾。该项目旨在推进一种可持续的从盐水中提取锂离子的化学方法。该项目将有几个有益的成果，包括开发从废物中回收和再循环关键矿物的高能效工艺，提高规模化分离方法的效率，更有效地利用可再生能源来推动分离过程，以及找到依赖昂贵和有毒化学品的过程的可持续替代品。锂分离方面的这些进展将对能源安全产生革命性的影响，增加传统来源的锂产量，释放非传统来源的锂资源，并使现有锂的回收和再利用在经济上更可行。此外，该项目还包括教育和研究部分，以培训和准备高中、本科生和研究生的STEM科目。该项目旨在了解离子选择性卤水开采中可切换溶剂提取的基本支配现象。这项研究将物理化学热力学原理与块体相实验表征相结合，以改进选择性离子分离。具体的项目目标是：1)建立支配可切换溶剂和高盐盐水两相混合物中竞争分配行为的主要离子性质，2)确定固有的溶剂结构-性质关系和离子特定的选择性性能，以及3)建立一个热力学严格的物理化学框架，用于预先确定多组分两相体系中的离子活度系数。该研究计划将系统地阐明油性溶剂和多电解质盐水两相体系中优先离子分配的潜在机制。这些机械论的见解将为未来直接提锂技术的进步提供信息。该项目的教育活动包括(I)为K-12教育和公众宣传开发模块，(Ii)加强本科生和研究生课程，(Iii)提供本科生研究机会，以及(Iv)积极招募、指导和倡导STEM中代表不足的群体。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。