Carbohydrazide RO Membrane

98.37% Li rejection

A reverse osmosis membrane fabricated via nanobubble-assisted interfacial polymerization that breaks the water flux–Li rejection trade-off for more efficient lithium concentration.

Zhang, Tong · Bingbing, Zhang · Zhang, Jie · Xiaolin, Zhang · Wang, Qiaoying · Wang, Xueye · Wu, Zhichao

Separation and Purification Technology 2026

Specifications

Li⁺ rejection

{'zh': '98.37', 'en': '98.37'} %

Advantages

Simultaneous enhancement

Nanobubble-assisted polymerization generates nanovoids that create a self-gutter effect, shortening water transport paths and increasing effective filtration area, thereby simultaneously improving water flux and Li⁺ rejection.

Stable long-term performance

During long-term operation, N-CH-RO maintains a Li⁺ rejection of 98.37% with stable flux, while CH-RO exhibits only 94.53% rejection and a declining flux trend.

Gutter morphology

In situ nanobubbles transform the membrane structure from “funnel effect” to “gutter effect”, reducing water transport resistance in both horizontal and normal directions and improving permeability.

Applications

• Salt-lake lithium extraction：Efficiently concentrate lithium from salt-lake brines, replacing conventional membranes for higher rejection.
• Lithium concentration：Enrich lithium from brines with improved Li⁺ rejection and water flux.
• Membrane separation：Reverse osmosis membrane with nanobubble-tuned structure for high-selectivity separation.