Abstract:
By using high isotope effect extracting agent benzo-15-crown-5(B15C5) and green and stable solvent—ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide-[C
4MIm]NTf
2), liquidliquid extraction system B15C5--[C
4MIm]NTf
2/LiA(anions were bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide(NTf
-2), trifluoromethanesulfonate(OTf
-) and Cl
-)-H
2O was established to separate lithium isotopes efficiently. Equilibrium time, effect of concentration of B15C5 and lithium salts, temperature and pH on distribution coefficient(
D) were examined. The results indicate: the extraction equilibrium are short,
t≤ 30 s; increasing the concentration of B15C5 and reducing the concentration of lithium salts are conducive to improve the distribution coefficient(
D). Under the same conditions, the order of the
D is LiNTf
2>LiOTf>LiCl, much higher than other extraction system; temperature and pH have no significant effect on the distribution coefficient. In addition, single crystal structure analysis of the complexes shows that all lithium salts are formed the same 1∶1 complex as [Li
4(B15C5)
4(OH)
2(H
2O)](NTf
2)
2 with B15C5, indicating that Li
+ is most likely extracted into organic phase by cation exchange process in ionic liquid system. The extraction system is efficient, green and has large capacity of lithium, it may have a high application value in industrial production.