1.D.242. The Dual Ion Channel/Conductor (DICC) Family
The development of energy-efficient and environmentally friendly lithium extraction techniques is essential to meet the growing global demand for lithium-ion batteries. Ma et al. 2023 have developed a dual-channel ion conductor membrane for a concentration-driven lithium-selective ion diffusion process. The membrane was based on a porous lithium-ion conductor, and its pores were modified with an anion-exchange polymer. Thus, the sintered lithium-ion conductors provided highly selective cation transport channels, and the functionalized nanopores with positive charges enabled the complementary permeation of anions to balance the transmembrane charges. As a result, the dual-channel membrane realized an ultrahigh Li+/Na+ selectivity of approximately 1389 with a competitive Li+ flux of 21.6 mmol.m-2.h(-1) in a diffusion process of the LiCl/NaCl binary solution, which was capable of further maintaining the high selectivity over 7 days of testing. Therefore, this work demonstrates the potential of the dual-channel membrane design for high-performing lithium extraction from aqueous resources with low energy consumption and minimal environmental impact ()Ma et al. 2023.