Separation and Recovery of Lithium from Geothermal Water by Sequential Adsorption Process with l-MnO2 and TiO2

Separation and recovery of lithium from geothermal water have been investigated by adsorption using both l-MnO2 and TiO2 as adsorbents for lithium and arsenic, respectively. The adsorption of lithium in the geothermal water with l-MnO2 is suppressed by the coexisting arsenic, and manganese is dissolved during elution of lithium from the loaded l-MnO2 in the column, due to the possible redox reaction of manganese by the arsenic adsorbed. TiO2 adsorbent is therefore applied for the arsenic adsorbent prior to the lithium recovery; that is the TiO2 and l-MnO2 are sequentially applied to the geothermal water. The arsenic in the geothermal water can be effectively removed by the TiO2 adsorbent, and successive recovery of the lithium with l-MnO2 can be achieved.