Rice Team develops lithium extraction membrane

Tuesday 07 Oct 2025
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Lithium-ion batteries play a large part in the use of consumer electronics, electric vehicles and large scale, renewable energy storage systems and projections indicate significant growth in these areas of application.

Most of the world’s lithium is extracted from saltwater deposits (brines), which involves extensive evaporation ponds and chemical treatments. The process is slow, inefficient and environmentally costly.

Researchers in Texas have created a new membrane that extracts lithium from brine, providing a cleaner, faster method to produce this key element used in rechargeable batteries.

Read more in The Engineer