Extreme Li-Mg selectivity via precise ion size differentiation of polyamide membrane

Quan Peng, Ruoyu Wang, Zilin Zhao, Shihong Lin, Ying Liu, Dianyu Dong, Zheng Wang, Yiman He, Yuzhang Zhu (), Jian Jin () and Lei Jiang
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Quan Peng: Soochow University
Ruoyu Wang: Vanderbilt University
Zilin Zhao: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Shihong Lin: Vanderbilt University
Ying Liu: Soochow University
Dianyu Dong: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Zheng Wang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yiman He: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yuzhang Zhu: Soochow University
Jian Jin: Soochow University
Lei Jiang: Chinese Academy of Sciences

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Achieving high selectivity of Li+ and Mg2+ is of paramount importance for effective lithium extraction from brines, and nanofiltration (NF) membrane plays a critical role in this process. The key to achieving high selectivity lies in the on-demand design of NF membrane pores in accordance with the size difference between Li+ and Mg2+ ions, but this poses a huge challenge for traditional NF membranes and difficult to be realized. In this work, we report the fabrication of polyamide (PA) NF membranes with ultra-high Li+/Mg2+ selectivity by modifying the interfacial polymerization (IP) process between piperazine (PIP) and trimesoyl chloride (TMC) with an oil-soluble surfactant that forms a monolayer at oil/water interface, referred to as OSARIP. The OSARIP benefits to regulate the membrane pores so that all of them are smaller than Mg2+ ions. Under the solely size sieving effect, an exceptional Mg2+ rejection rate of over 99.9% is achieved. This results in an exceptionally high Li+/Mg2+ selectivity, which is one to two orders of magnitude higher than all the currently reported pressure-driven membranes, and even higher than the microporous framework materials, including COFs, MOFs, and POPs. The large enhancement of ion separation performance of NF membranes may innovate the current lithium extraction process and greatly improve the lithium extraction efficiency.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-46887-4

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