Fabrication of lithium ion imprinted hybrid membranes with antifouling performance for selective recovery of lithium

Abstract

With the increasing demand for lithium resources, it is of great significance to develop a new technology for the selective recovery of lithium from complex systems. In the present work, antifouling lithium-imprinted hybrid membranes (LIHMs) were fabricated through a hydrolysis polymerization method using a PVDF/GO hybrid membrane as a basement membrane, and polydopamine as an adhesion layer to anchor imprinted sites. The antifouling experiments demonstrated that LIHMs had the underwater oil contact angle of 152 ± 0.8°. Furthermore, the adsorption isotherms, permeation and adsorption kinetics of the LIHMs were researched in detail. The results displayed that LIHMs showed a distinctive adsorption capacity (27.10 mg g⁻¹) and permselectivity (β_K/Li = 5.3780, β_Ca/Li = 21.9402, β_Mg/Li = 15.5620) for lithium. Also, the regeneration experiments confirmed the good durability of LIHMs, favoring long-term use. Therefore, the LIHMs provided a powerful tool for the effective separation and recovery of lithium in practical applications.