Hybrid membrane–adsorbent systems for direct lithium extraction from low-concentration brines
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31699/IJCPE.2026.3.2Keywords:
Direct lithium extraction; low-concentration brine; hybrid membrane–adsorbent system; lithium-ion sieve; nanofiltration; adsorption kinetics; Aspen Plus; MATLAB; selectivity; cyclic stabilityAbstract
With the increasing demand for lithium-ion batteries and stationary energy storage (SES) technologies, direct lithium extraction (DLE) of low concentration brines has become an area of increased interest where evaporation-based processes are slow, water-intensive and constrained by the environmental limits of water evaporation. Recovering dilute brines is still a difficult task due to the presence of much higher concentrations of Na⁺, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, and K⁺. A new hybrid membrane-adsorbent process for selective lithium extraction from low concentration synthetic brine using a lithium-ion-sieve adsorbent has been developed and tested. The integrated methodology comprised the use of Aspen Plus process simulation, MATLAB adsorption modelling and bench-scale validation. The membrane stage procedure removed 78.0% of Mg2+ and 84.4% of Ca2+ with 84.0% of lithium remaining. The hybrid system achieved 89.4% lithium recovery, an adsorption capacity of 24.8 mg g⁻¹, and a Li/Mg selectivity coefficient of 38.7. After 10 extraction cycles, lithium recovery remained 84.7%, membrane flux retention was 91.5%, and regeneration efficiency was 91.8%. These findings demonstrate that membrane pretreatment integrated with lithium-selective adsorption is a promising and scalable strategy for sustainable lithium extraction from low-grade brine resources.
Received on 14/04/2026
Received in Revised Form on 25/06/2026
Accepted on 26/06/2026
Published on 30/09/2026
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