Numerical Simulation of Continuous Extraction of Li+ from High Mg2+/Li+ Ratio Brines Based on Free Flow Ion Concentration Polarization Microfluidic System

Ion concentration polarization (ICP) is a promising mechanism for concentrating and/or separating charged molecules. This work simulates the extraction of Li+ ions in a diluted high Mg2+/Li+ ratio salt lake brines based on free flow ICP focusing (FF-ICPF). The model solution of diluted brine continuously flows through the system with Li+ slightly concentrated and Mg2+ significantly removed by ICP driven by external pressure and perpendicular electric field. In a typical case, our results showed that this system could focus Li+ concentration by ~1.28 times while decreasing the Mg2+/Li+ ratio by about 85% (from 40 to 5.85). Although Li+ and Mg2+ ions are not separated as an end product, which is preferably required by the lithium industry, this method is capable of decreasing the Mg2+/Li+ ratio significantly and has great potential as a preprocessing technology for lithium extraction from salt lake brines.