Research progress on nanofiltration membranes in lithium extraction from salt lakes
The consumption of lithium resources in China accounts for 40%of the global consumption,while its production capacity can only meet 20%of the industrial demand,with 80%imported.Therefore,development of new lithium extraction technology is of urgency and significance.Nanofiltration(NF)membrane,with selective ion separation capacity,exhibits outstanding potential in the selective separation of Mg2+and Li+.Commercial NF membrane is usually negatively charged,and its separation ability for positively charged ions is limited due to Donnan effect and electrostatic attraction.In recent years,it has been found that positively charged NF membrane shows effective separation on Mg2+and Li+with similar hydrate ion radii.In this review,the ion transport theory and selective screening mechanism of NF membrane were introduced,followed by summarization on the status quo and disadvantages of commercial NF membrane in the field of lithium extraction from salt lakes.The influence of preparation methods of positively charged NF membrane(including the selection of amine monomer,doping of nano-materials,introduction of interlayer and surface grafting,etc.)on improvement in the selective separation performance of Mg2+and Li+was then analyzed.Finally,the challenges and prospects of positively charged NF membrane in practical engineering applications were discussed.
extracting lithium from salt lakescreening mechanismcommercial nanofiltration membranesmembrane modificationpositively charged nanofiltration membrane