Solar-driven membrane separation for direct lithium extraction from artificial salt-lake brine

The demand for lithium extraction from salt-lake brines is increasing to address the lithium supply shortage. Nanofiltration separation technology with high Mg²⁺/Li⁺ separation efficiency has shown great potential for lithium extraction. However, it usually requires diluting the brine with a large quantity of freshwater and only yields Li⁺-enriched solution. Inspired by the process of selective ion uptake and salt secretion in mangroves, we report here the direct extraction of lithium from salt-lake brines by utilizing the synergistic effect of ion separation membrane and solar-driven evaporator. The ion separation membrane-based solar evaporator is a multilayer structure consisting of an upper photothermal layer to evaporate water, a hydrophilic porous membrane in the middle to generate capillary pressure as the driving force for water transport, and an ultrathin ion separation membrane at the bottom to allow Li⁺ to pass through and block other multivalent ions. This process exhibits excellent lithium extraction capability. When treating artificial salt-lake brine with salt concentration as high as 348.4 g L^-1, the Mg²⁺/Li⁺ ratio is reduced by 66 times (from 19.8 to 0.3). This research combines ion separation with solar-driven evaporation to directly obtain LiCl powder, providing an efficient and sustainable approach for lithium extraction.