Electrochemical lithium ion pumps for lithium recovery: A systematic review and influencing factors analysis

The pervasiveness of lithium-ion batteries in mobile electronics, hybrid and electric vehicles has led to a dramatic expansion of the lithium product market. There is an urgent need to develop new lithium extraction technologies to meet the balance of supply-demand in the market. Electrochemical lithium ion pumps (ELIP) technology attracts considerable attention for their environmental friendliness, high efficiency, and device simplicity. In this review, we summarize and present advances in lithium extraction by ELIP from aqueous resources containing lithium. The lithium extraction mechanism of different electroactive materials is summarized and classified according to the type of reaction. We also discuss the main process parameters affecting the performance of lithium extraction, including electrode active materials, electric field intensity, current density, lithium ion concentration, and interference cation ions. To evaluate extraction lithium performance of ELIP, we used selectively, extraction capacity, cycling stability, energy consumption, and loss of electrode materials used to evaluate the performance of lithium recovery. Finally, we will conclude this review with a brief challenge and prospect for this exciting research field.