The surge in production of new energy vehicles and energy storage devices has led to a robust demand for lithium. But currently, lithium is primarily sourced from hard rock ores, such as spodumene, or from natural brines, both of which involve energy-intensive and environmentally costly processes.
A groundbreaking study published on Friday in the peer-reviewed journal Science presents a novel seawater lithium extraction technique that harnesses solar energy as the driving force.
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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 extracts and stores lithium from brine using sunlight.
