Chinese scientists say they have discovered a promising and sustainable method for extracting lithium from seawater, offering an efficient alternative amid increasing demand for the key battery metal in renewable energy technologies while minimising the environmental impact. The surge in production of new energy vehicles and energy storage devices has led to a robust demand for lithium. But for now, lithium is mainly sourced from hard rock ores, such as spodumene, or from natural brines, both of which involve energy-intensive and environmentally costly processes. A study published on Friday in the peer-reviewed journal Science presents a novel seawater lithium extraction technique using solar energy. Led by Zhu Jia, of Nanjing University, and Mi Baoxia, from the University of California, Berkeley, the research team proposed a solar transpiration-powered lithium extraction and storage (STLES) device that uses sunlight to extract and store lithium from brine. The device consists of a solar transpirational evaporator, a lithium storage layer and a nanofiltration membrane. It uses solar energy to generate high capillary pressure within the evaporator, which drives lithium through the membrane and into the storage layer. Lithium extraction from seawater has been an area of potential but has many challenges. There are around 230 billion tonnes of lithium in the world’s seawater, about 16,000 times the reserves of the metal that can be exploited now.

Full story : Chinese scientists successful in extracting lithium from seawater which could make energy more cheaper.