Magnetic Field-Assisted Bundled Capillary Chromatography for Uranium and Lithium Extraction from Salt Lakes

Through multiple groups of comparative experiments, the optimal peristaltic pump rotational speed was determined to be 1.81 mL/min and the optimal magnetic field-assisted method for separation is when a ring magnet is nested, with its magnetic field lines pointing opposite to the water flow direction (“S-N”).

Among them, the MVQ capillary showed better performance. Without an external magnetic field, the uranium-lithium separation factor and magnesium-lithium separation factor of the MVQ capillary chromatographic column were 1.32 and 1.008, respectively; it required 289 stages of separation to reduce the magnesium-lithium ratio from 200 to 20. Under the action of the “S-N” magnetic field, the uranium-lithium separation factor of the MVQ capillary chromatographic column increased to 1.41, the magnesium-lithium separation factor increased to 1.015, and only 155 stages of separation were needed to reduce the magnesium-lithium ratio to 20.