Research Trends on Separation and Extraction of Rare Alkali Metal from Salt Lake Brine: Rubidium and Cesium

Abstract

Rubidium and cesium play increasingly important roles in high-tech fields such as aerospace engineering, arms development, and perovskite solar cell fabrication owing to their unique physical and chemical properties. Noting that abundant reserves of rubidium and cesium are often found in the brine of salt lakes, efficiently separating and extracting these resources is crucial for their industrial application. This paper systematically reviews the primary methods for and latest research on rubidium and cesium separation and extraction from salt lake brine and comprehensively evaluates these methods. It elucidates and provides a brief summary in the future development direction. This report is intended to inform future directions for rubidium and cesium recovery from salt lakes and industrial application.