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Spatially separated crystallization for selective lithium extraction from saline water

Nature Water volume 1, pages 808–817 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

Limited lithium supply is hindering the global transformation towards electrification and decarbonization. Current lithium mining can be energy, chemical and land intensive. Here we present an efficient and self-concentrating crystallization method for the selective extraction of lithium from both brine and seawater. The sequential and separable crystallization of cation species with different concentrations and solubilities was enabled by a twisted and slender 3D porous natural cellulose fibre structure via capillary and evaporative flows. The process exhibited an evaporation rate as high as 9.8 kg m−2 h−1, and it selectively concentrated lithium by orders of magnitude. The composition and spatial distribution of crystals were characterized, and a transport model deciphered the ion re-distribution process in situ. We also demonstrated system scalability via a 100-crystallizer array.

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Fig. 1: Interfacial crystallization and spatial distribution of ion products on the twisted 3D fibre structure.
Fig. 2: Li is concentrated at the top of the fibre crystallizer.
Fig. 3: Li is concentrated at the centre of the fibre crystallizer.
Fig. 4: Twist fibre structures achieve high water lifting and faster evaporation from brine water.
Fig. 5: Practical feasibility of the spatial crystallization system using simulated seawater.

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All data are presented in the article and its Supplementary Information. Source data are provided with this paper.

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Acknowledgements

The authors appreciate the support from Princeton Catalysis Initiative (PCI), and we acknowledge the use of Princeton’s Imaging and Analysis Center, which is partially supported through the Princeton Center for Complex Materials (PCCM), a National Science Foundation (NSF)-MRSEC programme (DMR-2011750). F.T.-C. and S.Z. gratefully acknowledge the Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowships from the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment.

Author information

Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Xi Chen, Meiqi Yang.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA

    Xi Chen, Meiqi Yang, Sunxiang Zheng & Zhiyong Jason Ren

  2. Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA

    Xi Chen, Meiqi Yang, Sunxiang Zheng, Fernando Temprano-Coleto & Zhiyong Jason Ren

  3. Now at School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

    Xi Chen

  4. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA

    Fernando Temprano-Coleto & Howard A. Stone

  5. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    Qi Dong & Liangbing Hu

  6. Princeton Materials Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA

    Guangming Cheng & Nan Yao

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Contributions

X.C. conceived the initial idea with the input from group members. X.C., M.Y., S.Z., Z.J.R. and L.H. contributed to the experimental design. Z.J.R. supervised the study. X.C., M.Y. and S.Z. conducted materials preparation and system operation. F.T.-C. and H.A.S. carried out model development. X.C., G.C. and N.Y. conducted material characterization. X.C., M.Y. and S.Z. contributed to experimental analysis. X.C. and Q.D. contributed to schematics design. X.C., M.Y., F.T.-C. and Z.J.R. wrote the paper, and all authors commented on the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zhiyong Jason Ren.

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Competing interests

X.C., S.Z. and Z.R. are authors on a patent application (PCT/US22/50915) for fibre evaporators. The other authors declare no competing interests.

Peer review

Peer review information

Nature Water thanks Ping He and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Notes 1–4 and Figs. 1–20, and captions for Supplementary Movies 1–3.

Supplementary Movie 1

Easy peeling of the Na-rich salt shell for Na separation, sampled after 5 days’ spatial crystallization for Li extraction from seawater.

Supplementary Movie 2

3D structure of the four-strings-twisted fibre crystallizer. Movie constructed by AVIZO software upon 3D X-ray scanning images.

Supplementary Movie 3

Time lapse video records the growth of the crystals during the operation. From left to right, the saline water contains 10, 40, 70 and 100 g l−1 NaCl, respectively. Visible salt crystalized at different heights, with the lower concentration crystalized at a higher position.

Supplementary Data 1

Data of supplementary figures.

Source data

Source Data Fig. 1

Statistical source data of Fig. 1.

Source Data Fig. 4

Statistical source data of Fig. 4.

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Chen, X., Yang, M., Zheng, S. et al. Spatially separated crystallization for selective lithium extraction from saline water. Nat Water 1, 808–817 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-023-00131-3

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