Bing Zhao,Zhiqiang Qian,Min Guo,Zhijian Wu,Zhong Liu
The improved adsorption capacities by increasing specific surface area methods are merely reached about 50% of H 4 Ti 5 O 12 ’s theoretical adsorption capacity, and the adsorption behavior and mechanism of lithium on special facets of H 4 Ti 5 O 12 remain unclear. In this study, a flower-shaped Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 and an octahedral Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 were prepared with the specific surface areas of 176.23 and 83.02 m 2 /g, and the corresponding adsorption behaviors of the obtained adsorbents exposed with (1 1 0) and (1 1 1) facets were investigated by using experimental and computational methods. The maximum Li + uptake values on H 4 Ti 5 O 12 (1 1 0) and H 4 Ti 5 O 12 (1 1 1) are 26.85 mg/g and 33.56 mg/g at 45 °C in 24 mM LiCl solutions, respectively. The fifth reuse ability of H 4 Ti 5 O 12 (1 1 1) still remains 88.9% of the original’s, which is higher than H 4 Ti 5 O 12 (1 1 0) (76.3%). Although with lower specific surface area, the octahedral H 4 Ti 5 O 12 have higher ions selectivity , greater adsorption capacity, and better reuse ability than flower-shaped H 4 Ti 5 O 12 , which may due to the special (1 1 1) facet exposed. Firstly, H 4 Ti 5 O 12 (1 1 1) owned small hole sizes can inhibit other ions diffusing into H 4 Ti 5 O 12 and improve the ion selectivity. Secondly, the immigration paths by the First-principles calculations revealed that the Li + migrate onto the Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 (1 1 1) is easier to than Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 (1 1 0) through 8a-16c-8a-16c sites. At last, [Li(H 2 O) 4 ] + can form the stable complexes and its adsorption energies on (1 1 1) are higher than on (1 1 0) facets, which may lead to larger adsorption capacity and better reuse ability. This work will help to understand the [Li(H 2 O) 4 ] + adsorption behavior and mechanism on different crystal facets by experiments and computations.
Xuan Xiao,Junfeng Li,Kehui Qiu,Min Chen,Xuefeng Zhang
The industrial application scope of spinel-type titanium oxide ion sieves is limited by its low adsorption efficiency and regeneration performance. In this study, H 4 Ti 5 O 12 (HTO-IV), a superhydrophilic spinel-type lithium ion sieve, was synthesized for the first time with the dual surfactants of CTAB and F127 to modulate the surface morphology and surface wettability of the raw material. The prepared HTO-IV lithium ion sieve was composed of ultrathin nanosheets assembled into microspheres and showed excellent surface hydrophilicity and an open hierarchical mesoporous structure, which allowed rapid ion exchange between Li + and H + . Li + adsorption rate exceeded 85 % within 30 min and its maximum theoretical adsorption capacity was 57.90 mg/g. The adsorption process of Li + on HTO-IV followed a pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Langmuir adsorption isotherm model. HTO-IV also exhibited good adsorption selectivity towards Li + in the presence of coexisting ions. Furthermore, the lithium adsorption ratio of the HTO-IV ion sieve remained at around 97 % even after five adsorption–desorption cycles, demonstrating excellent adsorption capacity and cycling stability. The study highlights the relationship between surface hydrophilicity and adsorption performance of the adsorbent.