Study of the hydrolysis of lithium hydride

2015

The hydrolysis of LiH at room temperature and under low water vapor pressure (PH2O < 10 hPa) is investigated by thermogravimetry and FTIR spectroscopy with low sample mass. Then, to be closer to industrial conditions, hydrolysis of LiH is studied by manometry either in closed (adjustable PH2O) or open (constant PH2O) system using larger amounts of sample and heavy water. Products of the reaction are characterized by X-ray diffraction and FTIR spectroscopy. The first set of experiments show that the mechanism of hydrolysis starts with the formation of lithium oxide Li2O. Then, when the oxide layer is sufficiently thick, the hydrolysis reaction is followed by the formation of lithium hydroxid…