Membrane could herald more sustainable lithium extraction

The international group of researchers from the UK, France, and China have published their findings in Nature Water. 

In a statement, co-author Professor Melanie Britton from Birmingham University said: “There is a critical demand for more sustainable processes addressing the global challenges of mineral availability and clean water supply, which lead to a circular economy.

“We believe our findings could lead to more efficient and sustainable lithium extraction, which is crucial for the batteries powering everyday devices such as smartphones, laptops, and electric vehicles.” 

The new filtration membranes enable direct lithium extraction from salt-lake brines through a selective electrodialysis process that efficiently separates lithium ions from other ions present in the brine. 

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Research lead Dr Qilei Song from Imperial College London said: "Our research could reduce the environmental impact of lithium mining and contribute to the development of more efficient energy storage systems for renewable energy sources. There may also be applications in other areas of resource recovery, for example, critical metal recovery from wastewater, plastic and battery recycling.”