Lithium is becoming an essential metal in the global energy economy due to its applications in batteries, including those for electric cars; however, its recovery from the land resources is geographically limited and not environmentally friendly.
As an alternative, there is a huge quantity of lithium freely dissolved in seawater. However, the existing processes for its recovery have limited efficiency.
In this project, lithium selective composite membranes will be developed to recover lithium from saline streams – such as seawater and lithium-rich brines – coming from desalination processes and mines.