Abstract
In recent years, the demand for lithium (Li) has been on the rise as Li-ion batteries are playing an increasingly important role in powering the global transition to a low-carbon society. In contrast to the predominant production of lithium from hard rock, lithium extraction from brine sources has proven more economical and sustainable. However, substantial challenges remain, including the low efficiency of the extraction process, especially for brines of high salinity, complex composition and poor selectivity against magnesium, the major competing species. Here we show a loose nanofiltration process involving ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) for direct and efficient Li+ extraction as well as effective Mg2+ utilization from salt-lake brines. Taking advantage of selective binding between EDTA4− and Mg2+, our process achieves ultrahigh Mg2+ rejection of 99.85%, ultrafast Li+ flux of ~4.34 mol m−2 h−1 and unprecedented Li+/Mg2+ separation factor (~679) under industrial conditions (127.06 g l−1). More importantly, the Li+ recovery rate reaches 89.90% through a two-stage filtration process, while Mg2+ waste is converted to nanostructured Mg(OH)2 and 98.87% of EDTA4− can be regenerated. Our scalable process minimizes environmental impact while maximizing resource utilization, thereby catalysing the shift toward a more sustainable future.
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All data needed to evaluate the conclusions in the paper are provided as Source Data and in the Supplementary Information.
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Acknowledgements
Z.L. acknowledges support from the Monash University Start-up Fund (Project No. MSRI8001003).
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M.Y. and M.T. designed the experiment. M.Y. conducted the experiment and analysed the results. Z.L. and X.Z. proposed and supervised the project. L.S. contributed to data analysis. E.L. and F.X. contributed to the technical and economic analysis. G.Z. and L.X. contributed to conducting SEM, 1H-NMR characterization, AFM force measurement and project discussion. X.R., K.W. and Y.C. carried out the DFT calculation. M.Y. wrote and revised the paper. Z.L., E.L. and X.Z. discussed the results, commented on and revised the paper. H.W. provided constructive suggestions for the project.
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Nature Sustainability thanks Jian Jin, Qiaoying Wang, Walter Torres and Amir Razmjou for their contribution to the peer review of this work.
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Supplementary methods, Figs. 1–52, Note 1 and Tables 1–9.
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Processed NMR patterns and statistical source data.
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Processed XRD pattern and statistical source data.
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Yong, M., Tang, M., Sun, L. et al. Sustainable lithium extraction and magnesium hydroxide co-production from salt-lake brines. Nat Sustain 7, 1662–1671 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-024-01435-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-024-01435-2
