Longqian Xu, Bing Zhao, Xudong Zhang, Weifan Liu, Daniel Rau, Deli Wu, Wencai Zhang, Chong Liu, Zhong Liu, Shihong Lin
{"title":"Membrane and electrochemical separations for direct lithium extraction","authors":"Longqian Xu, Bing Zhao, Xudong Zhang, Weifan Liu, Daniel Rau, Deli Wu, Wencai Zhang, Chong Liu, Zhong Liu, Shihong Lin","doi":"10.1038/s44286-025-00250-6","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44286-025-00250-6","url":null,"abstract":"The increasing demand for batteries to meet the needs of electric transportation and the storage of renewable energy has driven rapid growth in lithium production. Extracting lithium from brine deposits, which include salt-flat and salt-lake brines, oilfield brines and geothermal brines, offers an important source of sustainable lithium. Commercial lithium extraction often relies on pond evaporation followed by other unit processes such as adsorption, concentration and chemical precipitation. Growing interest has emerged in membrane and electrochemical methods for the selective separation of lithium to enable direct lithium extraction. This Review provides an engineering perspective on the development of direct lithium extraction processes by summarizing the characteristics of major lithium brine sources, treatment trains and unit processes. We introduce the fundamentals of key membrane and electrochemical techniques, which include nanofiltration, electrosorption and electrodialysis, and evaluate their reported performance systematically. We discuss how the separation efficiency depends on the brine composition, operating conditions and material properties, and offer recommendations to advance the development of materials and processes for the broader adoption of membrane and electrochemical approaches in direct lithium extraction. This Review examines membrane and electrochemical technologies for direct lithium extraction, focusing on separation mechanisms, performance trade-offs and the influence of brine composition. It offers a blueprint for treatment train integration and highlights key opportunities and challenges to advance direct lithium extraction toward practical and scalable industrial adoption.","PeriodicalId":501699,"journal":{"name":"Nature Chemical Engineering","volume":"2 9","pages":"551-567"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145123507","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Longqian Xu, Bing Zhao, Xudong Zhang, Weifan Liu, Daniel Rau, Deli Wu, Wencai Zhang, Chong Liu, Zhong Liu, Shihong Lin
{"title":"Membrane and electrochemical separations for direct lithium extraction","authors":"Longqian Xu, Bing Zhao, Xudong Zhang, Weifan Liu, Daniel Rau, Deli Wu, Wencai Zhang, Chong Liu, Zhong Liu, Shihong Lin","doi":"10.1038/s44286-025-00250-6","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44286-025-00250-6","url":null,"abstract":"The increasing demand for batteries to meet the needs of electric transportation and the storage of renewable energy has driven rapid growth in lithium production. Extracting lithium from brine deposits, which include salt-flat and salt-lake brines, oilfield brines and geothermal brines, offers an important source of sustainable lithium. Commercial lithium extraction often relies on pond evaporation followed by other unit processes such as adsorption, concentration and chemical precipitation. Growing interest has emerged in membrane and electrochemical methods for the selective separation of lithium to enable direct lithium extraction. This Review provides an engineering perspective on the development of direct lithium extraction processes by summarizing the characteristics of major lithium brine sources, treatment trains and unit processes. We introduce the fundamentals of key membrane and electrochemical techniques, which include nanofiltration, electrosorption and electrodialysis, and evaluate their reported performance systematically. We discuss how the separation efficiency depends on the brine composition, operating conditions and material properties, and offer recommendations to advance the development of materials and processes for the broader adoption of membrane and electrochemical approaches in direct lithium extraction. This Review examines membrane and electrochemical technologies for direct lithium extraction, focusing on separation mechanisms, performance trade-offs and the influence of brine composition. It offers a blueprint for treatment train integration and highlights key opportunities and challenges to advance direct lithium extraction toward practical and scalable industrial adoption.","PeriodicalId":501699,"journal":{"name":"Nature Chemical Engineering","volume":"2 9","pages":"551-567"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145123538","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
James Wortman, Jianchao Zhao, Jianyuan Zhang, Suljo Linic
{"title":"Multifunctional membrane–catalyst systems for chemical upgrading of shale gas","authors":"James Wortman, Jianchao Zhao, Jianyuan Zhang, Suljo Linic","doi":"10.1038/s44286-025-00252-4","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44286-025-00252-4","url":null,"abstract":"Many chemical transformations that are desirable at large scales either lack economically or environmentally sustainable catalytic solutions or require significant improvement. In many cases, identifying catalytic active centers that can perform these reactions under desired conditions and at acceptable rates, stabilities and selectivity has been difficult. One possible approach to overcome this issue is to design membrane–catalyst systems that can increase catalytic rates or selectivity. In general, this membrane–catalyst concept has been challenging to implement, optimize and even thoroughly study as the development of membranes and catalysts is usually undertaken in different scientific communities. Approaches where these two building blocks are co-optimized have not been rigorously explored. In this Perspective, strategies for integrating membrane and catalyst functionalities at molecular scales is explored, with the aim to develop reactive systems for difficult chemical transformations. Specifically, the challenges and opportunities of membrane–catalyst systems for oxidative and non-oxidative shale-gas conversion chemistries are critically examined. This Perspective highlights membrane–catalyst systems as a promising approach for difficult large-scale chemical transformations. The authors emphasize the need for integrated design and co-optimization of the membrane and catalysts, especially in the context of oxidative and non-oxidative shale-gas conversion chemistries.","PeriodicalId":501699,"journal":{"name":"Nature Chemical Engineering","volume":"2 9","pages":"539-550"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145123310","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
James Wortman, Jianchao Zhao, Jianyuan Zhang, Suljo Linic
{"title":"Multifunctional membrane–catalyst systems for chemical upgrading of shale gas","authors":"James Wortman, Jianchao Zhao, Jianyuan Zhang, Suljo Linic","doi":"10.1038/s44286-025-00252-4","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44286-025-00252-4","url":null,"abstract":"Many chemical transformations that are desirable at large scales either lack economically or environmentally sustainable catalytic solutions or require significant improvement. In many cases, identifying catalytic active centers that can perform these reactions under desired conditions and at acceptable rates, stabilities and selectivity has been difficult. One possible approach to overcome this issue is to design membrane–catalyst systems that can increase catalytic rates or selectivity. In general, this membrane–catalyst concept has been challenging to implement, optimize and even thoroughly study as the development of membranes and catalysts is usually undertaken in different scientific communities. Approaches where these two building blocks are co-optimized have not been rigorously explored. In this Perspective, strategies for integrating membrane and catalyst functionalities at molecular scales is explored, with the aim to develop reactive systems for difficult chemical transformations. Specifically, the challenges and opportunities of membrane–catalyst systems for oxidative and non-oxidative shale-gas conversion chemistries are critically examined. This Perspective highlights membrane–catalyst systems as a promising approach for difficult large-scale chemical transformations. The authors emphasize the need for integrated design and co-optimization of the membrane and catalysts, especially in the context of oxidative and non-oxidative shale-gas conversion chemistries.","PeriodicalId":501699,"journal":{"name":"Nature Chemical Engineering","volume":"2 9","pages":"539-550"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145123529","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Learning the flow from the get-go","authors":"Mahshid Ahmadi, Sergei Kalinin","doi":"10.1038/s44286-025-00261-3","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44286-025-00261-3","url":null,"abstract":"Intensifying automated materials discovery via self-driving laboratories hinges on their ability to learn, generalize and extrapolate from limited data. Now, dynamic flow experiments enable real-time, continuous data capture across broad synthesis spaces by continuously mapping transient flows to their steady-state equivalents, accelerating discovery while reducing chemical consumption and experimental time.","PeriodicalId":501699,"journal":{"name":"Nature Chemical Engineering","volume":"2 8","pages":"472-473"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145123587","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The first cells forged in fire","authors":"Thomas Dursch","doi":"10.1038/s44286-025-00255-1","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44286-025-00255-1","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":501699,"journal":{"name":"Nature Chemical Engineering","volume":"2 7","pages":"402-402"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145122969","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ji Yang, Qi Dong, Chunyan Zhang, Wentao Zhang, Joel Miscall, Alexandra H. Brozena, Jiansong Chen, Ning Liu, Tangyuan Li, Fangyuan Liu, Claudemi A. Nascimento, Beatriz Dantas, Bohong Zhang, Farhan Mumtaz, Zixiao Liu, Shufeng Liu, Yiheng Du, Ziyu Wang, Zhiqiang Pang, Dongxia Liu, Jie Huang, Fernando V. Lima, Xuejun Pan, Yiguang Ju, Kelvin Fu, Shu Hu, Gregg T. Beckham, Liangbing Hu
{"title":"Selective electrified polyethylene upcycling by pore-modulated pyrolysis","authors":"Ji Yang, Qi Dong, Chunyan Zhang, Wentao Zhang, Joel Miscall, Alexandra H. Brozena, Jiansong Chen, Ning Liu, Tangyuan Li, Fangyuan Liu, Claudemi A. Nascimento, Beatriz Dantas, Bohong Zhang, Farhan Mumtaz, Zixiao Liu, Shufeng Liu, Yiheng Du, Ziyu Wang, Zhiqiang Pang, Dongxia Liu, Jie Huang, Fernando V. Lima, Xuejun Pan, Yiguang Ju, Kelvin Fu, Shu Hu, Gregg T. Beckham, Liangbing Hu","doi":"10.1038/s44286-025-00248-0","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44286-025-00248-0","url":null,"abstract":"Plastic waste is a growing problem, accumulating in landfills and the environment. Pyrolysis is a promising and industrially relevant approach for transforming plastic waste into value-added chemicals. However, the selectivity and yield of traditional plastic pyrolysis are poor, with products featuring broad molar mass distributions. Here we report a highly selective, energy-efficient and catalyst-free pyrolysis method that can upcycle plastic into value-added chemicals via pore-modulated pyrolysis. Using a Joule-heated carbon column, we demonstrate the pivotal role of the reactor’s graded porous structure in decreasing the polydispersity of the reaction intermediates, enabling high product selectivity and yield. The decreasing pore size of the reactor modulates the mass transport in an apparent gating effect—preventing high-molar-mass species from exiting the reactor before sufficient pyrolysis has occurred. Using polyethylene as a model reactant, we demonstrate a high yield of 65.9 ± 5.2% and up to 80.8% selectivity toward value-added aviation fuel precursor (C8–C18 hydrocarbons) without the use of any catalysts. A pore-modulated pyrolysis reactor that enables catalyst-free and energy-efficient upcycling of plastic waste is demonstrated. The graded-pore structure imposes molecular-weight-dependent transport barriers, establishing a gating effect that enhances product selectivity and yields aviation fuel precursor (C8–C18) with high efficiency.","PeriodicalId":501699,"journal":{"name":"Nature Chemical Engineering","volume":"2 7","pages":"424-435"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s44286-025-00248-0.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145123306","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Zhuo Xu, Kevin Sanchez-Rivera, Charles Granger, Panzheng Zhou, Aurora del Carmen Munguia-Lopez, Ugochukwu M. Ikegwu, Styliani Avraamidou, Victor M. Zavala, Reid C. Van Lehn, Ezra Bar-Ziv, Steven De Meester, George W. Huber
{"title":"Solvent-based plastic recycling technologies","authors":"Zhuo Xu, Kevin Sanchez-Rivera, Charles Granger, Panzheng Zhou, Aurora del Carmen Munguia-Lopez, Ugochukwu M. Ikegwu, Styliani Avraamidou, Victor M. Zavala, Reid C. Van Lehn, Ezra Bar-Ziv, Steven De Meester, George W. Huber","doi":"10.1038/s44286-025-00247-1","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44286-025-00247-1","url":null,"abstract":"Solvent-based recycling approaches are receiving industrial and academic interest for their ability to produce high-quality plastic resins from a variety of plastic waste sources without breaking the polymer chains. Here we highlight the development of solvent-based technologies, focusing on the underlying principles, techno-economic and life-cycle analyses, and commercialization. The basic steps in solvent-based recycling include plastic size reduction, plastic dissolution, filtration or centrifugation, and optional additional cleaning steps such as adsorption, precipitation and solvent removal. Impurities that build up in the solvent must also be removed. The goal of solvent-based technologies is to produce a high-quality resin without plastic contaminants or other added substances. Disadvantages of these solvent-based technologies are their physicochemical complexity and the difficulty in scaling up to achieve continuous operations with high polymer and solvent yields and throughputs. Chemical engineering is thus critical in bringing solvent-based recycling technologies to market. Solvent-based recycling technologies are receiving growing industrial and academic interest due to their ability to selectively extract high-purity polymers from complex plastic waste streams. This Review examines the underlying thermodynamic principles, process considerations, techno-economic and life-cycle impacts, and current commercialization efforts of these technologies, while highlighting key research priorities for scale-up.","PeriodicalId":501699,"journal":{"name":"Nature Chemical Engineering","volume":"2 7","pages":"407-423"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145122932","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Putting plastic waste management technologies into practice","authors":"","doi":"10.1038/s44286-025-00257-z","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44286-025-00257-z","url":null,"abstract":"The generation of plastic waste is a growing problem, and its impact on human and environmental health is yet to be fully uncovered. This Editorial discusses the need for a systems-level approach to achieve truly sustainable plastic waste management solutions.","PeriodicalId":501699,"journal":{"name":"Nature Chemical Engineering","volume":"2 7","pages":"393-393"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.comhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s44286-025-00257-z.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145123099","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Joule-heating reactor powers scalable plastic upcycling","authors":"Yi Cheng, James Tour","doi":"10.1038/s44286-025-00251-5","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s44286-025-00251-5","url":null,"abstract":"Selective pyrolysis offers an advanced approach to upcycle plastic waste into valuable chemicals. Now, a strategy employing a scalable Joule-heating system with a graded porous carbon reactor is presented, enabling efficient and selective conversion of waste plastic into fuels with high selectivity, high yield and minimal environmental impact.","PeriodicalId":501699,"journal":{"name":"Nature Chemical Engineering","volume":"2 7","pages":"405-406"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145123305","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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