Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42131716›Full record

ReviewACS ES&T engineering2026

Membranes for Lithium Recovery From Conventional and Unconventional Sources.

Nurshaun Sreedhar, Rebecca Lee, Sreejith Appukuttan, Hariswaran Sitaraman, Jason DesVeaux, Gary Grim, Mou Paul, Manish Kumar, Abhishek Roy

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in ACS ES&T engineering, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Nurshaun SreedharMaseeh Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1644-3282
Rebecca LeeNational Laboratory of the Rockies, Golden, Colorado 80401, United States.
Sreejith AppukuttanNational Laboratory of the Rockies, Golden, Colorado 80401, United States.
Hariswaran SitaramanNational Laboratory of the Rockies, Golden, Colorado 80401, United States.
Jason DesVeauxNational Laboratory of the Rockies, Golden, Colorado 80401, United States.
Gary GrimNational Laboratory of the Rockies, Golden, Colorado 80401, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1154-7795
Mou PaulNational Laboratory of the Rockies, Golden, Colorado 80401, United States.
Manish KumarMaseeh Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5545-3793
Abhishek RoyNational Laboratory of the Rockies, Golden, Colorado 80401, United States.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0000-5022-4975

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Lithium has been deemed a critical mineral of national importance that finds uses in a wide range of applications, and its demand has been rising significantly in recent years. The urgency of meeting this demand requires lithium extraction from various aqueous sources such as continental brines, geothermal brines, seawater, produced water, and battery waste. While direct lithium extraction (DLE) technologies such as adsorption, ion exchange, and solvent extraction have emerged as possible solutions, membrane technologies are also being investigated for various sources and at different stages of the recovery process. Here, we analyze the application of membranes for pretreatment of lithium source waters, bring management, lithium/magnesium separation, lithium/sodium separation, and lithium hydroxide conversion, and evaluate performance metrics for critical lithium separations from the literature. We explore the potential of membranes at every stage of the recovery process and describe their current status and future prospects. We describe hypothetical process trains with integrated membrane technologies for each source type and address their feasibility and challenges. The potential energy and water impacts of membrane-integrated and conventional DLE processes are also critically considered alongside performance and selectivity metrics, and this is illustrated using examples and calculated from published technical reports. This paper thus provides a comprehensive overview of the application of membranes along every stage of the lithium recovery process, emphasizing the versatility and potential of membrane technologies for critical mineral recovery.

Indexed as

Critical mineral recoveryDirect lithium extraction (DLE)Lithium recoveryMembrane technologiesSelective ion separation

Identifiers

PMID42131716
PMCPMC13162263

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.