Lithium Extraction by Emerging Metal–Organic Framework‐Based Membranes

Abstract

Lithium is mainly extracted from brine and ores; however, current lithium mining methods require large amounts of chemicals, discharge many wastes, and can have serious environmental repercussions. Metal–organic framework (MOF)‐based membranes have shown great potential in lithium extraction due to their uniform pore sizes, high porosities, and rich host–guest chemistry compared to other materials. In this review, the processes and disadvantages of current lithium extraction technologies are introduced. The structure features and corresponding design strategy of MOFs suitable for Li+ ion separations are presented. Following, recent advances of polycrystalline MOF membranes, mixed matrix membranes, and MOF channel membranes for lithium‐ion separation are discussed in detail. Finally, opportunities for future developments and challenges in this emerging research field are presented.

Novel Fluorine-Pillared Metal–Organic Framework for Highly Effective Lithium Enrichment from Brine

“…Recently, a lithium capacity of 7.5 mg·g –1 was observed on MIL-121 by replacing the protons of the carboxylic groups . In addition, MOF-based membranes with intrinsic properties have shown great potential in lithium extraction . By doping iron into the ion sieves, excellent lithium selectivity and enhanced lithium storage have been achieved recently …”

“…30 In addition, MOF-based membranes with intrinsic properties have shown great potential in lithium extraction. 31 By doping iron into the ion sieves, excellent lithium selectivity and enhanced lithium storage have been achieved recently. 32 Considering the limited research on using MOFs for selective lithium uptake and their structural potentials as adsorbents, here we designed a novel MOF termed as TJU-21, where the layers of benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylate-coordinated Fe−O chains are pillared by fluorine.…”

Angstrom-scale ion channels towards single-ion selectivity

“…The development of Li + -selective materials is essential for efficient lithium extraction and recovery to satisfy the increasing demand for lithium batteries. So far, a series of MOF, 124,135,137,218 2D material, 167,[219][220][221] and polymer 131,222,223 membranes have achieved precise Li + selectivity over Na + , K + , and other cations. These single Li + -selective membranes can directly extract Li + ions from a mixture with monovalent, divalent, and multivalent ions compared to the mono-/divalent cation-selective membranes.…”

“…Monovalent metal ion-selective membranes 218,245,246 have been used for lithium-ion separation technologies. The integration of ion-selective membranes into electrodialysis devices is an effective way to achieve efficient ion separation.…”

Lithium-Sodium Separation by a Lithium Composite Membrane Used in Electrodialysis Process: Concept Validation

“…For lithium recovery from its aqueous resources, generally as LiCl or LiCO 3 salt [9], several methods were proposed, including solar evaporation [10], adsorption [11][12][13][14][15], complexation [16][17][18][19], precipitation [20,21], solvent extraction [22,23] and membrane process [24][25][26][27][28]. Among these proposed techniques and despite the time consumption and environmental effects of solar evaporation, this remains the most used method for actual lithium salt production [29].…”