Methodology for the recovery of lithium from lithium titanate

A process is described offering efficiency and specificity to recover lithium carbonate from lithium titanate pebbles partially burnt by neutron irradiation. The chemical route considers the extraction of the lithium from the spent fuel ceramics and its recovery as lithium carbonate, by dissolution in water, followed by precipitation in ethanol. Lithium titanate prepared with the recovered lithium carbonate compares favourably with the product resulting from a commercial high purity lithium carbonate. An 83% overall efficiency is achieved for the recovery of lithium carbonate.