Issue 23, 2022

Preparation of battery-grade lithium carbonate by microbubble enhanced CO2 gas–liquid reactive crystallization

Abstract

Lithium carbonate (Li2CO3), as one of the most important basic lithium salts, has a high demand in the lithium ion battery industry, including the preparation of cathode materials, lithium metal, and electrolyte additives. However, the traditional preparation process of Li2CO3 is hampered by the introduction of Na+ metal impurity, and the particle size is too large to meet the requirements of battery-grade products. Here, we propose a gas–liquid reactive crystallization process for the one-step preparation of battery-grade Li2CO3 using CO2 instead of Na2CO3 as the precipitant. This strategy avoids the introduction of Na+ metal impurity and can also capture and convert CO2. Meanwhile, microbubbles were introduced into the system to enhance the mass transfer and regulate the crystallization process to efficiently prepare Li2CO3 products with the particle size meeting the requirements of the battery level. The kinetic parameters and crystallization mechanism of battery-grade Li2CO3 prepared by gas–liquid reactive crystallization were quantitatively analyzed through in situ tests and calculations. The feasibility of using the prepared battery-grade Li2CO3 as a raw material to synthesize an LiFePO4 cathode for lithium ion batteries was verified. The strategy provides a new route for the controllable preparation of battery-grade Li2CO3 and the conversion of CO2.

Graphical abstract: Preparation of battery-grade lithium carbonate by microbubble enhanced CO2 gas–liquid reactive crystallization

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
07 Sept. 2022
Accepted
17 Okt. 2022
First published
19 Okt. 2022

Green Chem., 2022,24, 9084-9093

Preparation of battery-grade lithium carbonate by microbubble enhanced CO2 gas–liquid reactive crystallization

J. Lu, M. Tian, J. Cao, J. Liu, J. Guo, Y. Sun, S. Pang, G. Qian and Z. Wang, Green Chem., 2022, 24, 9084 DOI: 10.1039/D2GC03375E

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