A new solvent-based technique could change how lithium is extracted from brines, potentially making the process faster, cheaper, and viable in places where conventional methods fail.
Few elements are as key to the clean energy transition as lithium, and global demand for it is soaring. The metal powers the rechargeable batteries inside electric vehicles and the massive storage systems that allow solar and wind energy to supply electricity long after the sun sets and the wind calms.
Unfortunately, current methods for producing lithium are slow and require high-quality feedstocks found in relatively few locations on Earth.
Ironically, the environmental costs are also significant. Refining the mineral behind clean energy requires large amounts of land and can pollute water supplies that local communities depend on.
In a new paper, researchers from Columbia Engineering describe a method for extracting lithium that could dramatically shorten processing times, unlock reserves that existing methods cannot access, and reduce environmental impact. Their technique uses a temperature-sensitive solvent to extract lithium directly from brines found in deposits around the world.
Unlike current technologies, this approach can efficiently extract lithium even when it is present in very low concentrations or mixed with chemically similar materials.
The results, detailed in a paper published in Joule, show that the innovation—called switchable solvent selective extraction, S3E (pronounced S three E)—can extract lithium with strong selectivity: up to 10 times higher than for sodium and 12 times higher than for potassium. The process also excludes magnesium, a common contaminant in lithium brines, by triggering a chemical precipitation step that separates it out.
Improving on Solar Evaporation
Roughly 40% of global lithium production begins with salty brines stored in large underground reservoirs beneath deserts. Nearly all of that lithium is extracted using a technique called solar evaporation, in which brine is pumped into sprawling ponds that bake under the desert sun—sometimes for up to two years—until enough water evaporates.
This approach is only feasible in dry, flat regions with vast areas of land, such as Chile’s Atacama Desert or parts of Nevada. It also consumes large volumes of water in places that can scarcely afford it.
“There’s no way solar evaporation alone can match future demand,” said Ngai Yin Yip, La Von Duddleson Krumb Associate Professor of Earth and Environmental Engineering at Columbia University. “And there are promising lithium-rich brines, like those in California’s Salton Sea, where this method simply can’t be used at all.”
Unlike conventional lithium recovery methods, S3E does not rely on binding chemicals or extensive post-processing. Instead, the process exploits how lithium ions interact with water molecules in a solvent system that changes its behavior with temperature.
At room temperature, the solvent pulls lithium and water from the brine. When heated, it releases the lithium, along with water, into a purified stream and regenerates itself for reuse.
An Approach with Tremendous Potential
In laboratory tests using synthetic brines modeled on the Salton Sea, a geothermal region in Southern California estimated to contain enough lithium to supply more than 375 million EV batteries, the system recovered nearly 40% of the lithium after just four cycles using the same solvent batch. That performance suggests a potential path toward continuous operation.
“This is a new way to do direct lithium extraction,” said Yip. “It’s fast, selective, and easy to scale. And it can be powered by low-grade heat from waste sources or solar collectors.”
The team emphasized that this is a proof-of-concept study. The system hasn’t yet been optimized for yield or efficiency. But even in this early form, S3E appears promising enough to offer an alternative to evaporation ponds and hard-rock mining, the two approaches that dominate the lithium supply chain today and come with steep tradeoffs.
As the global clean energy transition picks up speed, technologies like S3E could play a crucial role in keeping it on track—by making it possible to extract lithium faster, more cleanly, and from more places than ever before.
“We talk about green energy all the time,” said Yip. “But we rarely talk about how dirty some of the supply chains are. If we want a truly sustainable transition, we need cleaner ways to get the materials it depends on. This is one step in that direction.”
Reference: “A novel approach for direct lithium extraction from alkali metal cations in brine mixtures using thermally switchable solvents” by Elizabeth Dach, Juliana Marston, Sara Abu-Obaid, Allison Peng and Ngai Yin Yip, 21 January 2026, Joule.
DOI: 10.1016/j.joule.2025.102265
Funding: U.S. Department of Energy, National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship
Never miss a breakthrough: Join the SciTechDaily newsletter.
Follow us on Google and Google News.