Heterogeneous asymmetric passable cavities within graphene oxide nanochannels for highly efficient lithium sieving
Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
Desalination
Volume
538
Publisher
Elsevier
School
School of Engineering
RAS ID
52036
Funders
UTS CPRDF award (PRO20-11072), University of Technology Sydney / Australian Research Council-Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) DE180100688 / Australian Academy of Science, on behalf of the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources / Australian Government under the National Innovation and Science Agenda
Grant Number
ARC Number : DE180100688
Abstract
Lithium is a critical energy element that plays a pivotal role in transitions to sustainable energy. Numerous two-dimensional (2D) membranes have been developed to extract Li+ from different resources. However, their Li+ extraction efficacy is not high enough to meet industrial requirements. Here, we introduce an approach that boosts Li+ selectivity of 2D membranes by inducing asymmetricity in the morphology and chemistry of their nanochannels. Our approach provides an opportunity to manipulate cation hydration shells via a sudden change in the nanochannel size. Then, the addition of nucleophilic traps in the nanochannel intersections results in high Li+ selectivity. Our design leads to a new ion transport mechanism named “Energy Surge Baffle” (ESB) that substantially enriches Li+ in the feed by increasing the monovalent/lithium-ion selectivity up to six times that of other graphene oxide-based membranes. Our approach can be extended to other 2D materials, creating a platform for designing advanced membranes.
DOI
10.1016/j.desal.2022.115888
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Comments
Ahmadi, H., Zakertabrizi, M., Hosseini, E., Cha-Umpong, W., Abdollahzadeh, M., Korayem, A. H., ... & Razmjou, A. (2022). Heterogeneous asymmetric passable cavities within graphene oxide nanochannels for highly efficient lithium sieving. Desalination, 538, 115888.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2022.115888