The sustainability of lithium-based energy storage or conversion systems, e.g., lithium-ion batteries, can be enhanced by establishing methods of efficient lithium extraction from harsh brines. In this work, we describe a decoupled membrane-free electrochemical cell that cycles lithium ions between iron-phosphate electrodes and features cathode (brine) and anode (fresh water) compartments that are isolated from each other yet electrochemically connected through a pair of silver/silver-halide redox electrodes. This design is compatible with harsh brines having magnesium/lithium molar ratios of up to 3258 and lithium concentrations down to 0.15 millimolar, enabling the production of battery-grade (>99.95% pure) lithium carbonate. Energy savings of up to ~21.5% were realized by efficiently harvesting the osmotic energy of the brines. A pilot-scale cell with an electrode surface area of 33.75 square meters was used to realize lithium extraction from Dead Sea brine with a recovery rate of 84.0%.

中文翻译：

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通过解耦和无膜电化学电池设计从盐水中提取锂


通过建立从刺激性盐水中高效提取锂的方法，可以提高锂基储能或转换系统（例如锂离子电池）的可持续性。在这项工作中，我们描述了一种解耦的无膜电化学电池，它在磷酸铁电极之间循环锂离子，并具有彼此隔离但通过一对银/银卤化物氧化还原电极进行电化学连接的阴极（盐水）和阳极（淡水）隔室。这种设计与镁/锂摩尔比高达 3258 且锂浓度低至 0.15 毫摩尔的刺激盐水兼容，从而能够生产电池级（纯度为 >99.95%）碳酸锂。通过有效收集盐水的渗透能，实现了高达 ~21.5% 的能源节约。采用电极表面积为 33.75 平方米的中试电池实现死海卤水提锂，回收率达 84.0%。