The global community is becoming more aware of the challenges posed by human population growth, excessive consumption, depletion of natural resources, and environmental degradation, all of which jeopardize the sustainability of our planet. One of such resources is water. The growing global demand for lithium, particularly in the context of renewable energy and electric vehicle batteries, necessitates the exploration of innovative and sustainable extraction methods for resource recovery from unconventional sources, such as high-salinity brines. This study explores the combination of membrane distillation and crystallization (MDC) as an innovative approach to improve water recovery and enable effective simultaneous extraction of lithium from high-salinity brines (RO concentrate and oilfield produced water). The MD process employs a microporous hydrophobic crosslinked PVDF membrane to concentrate the high-salinity brines to the point near to saturation. Incorporating crystallization with MD enhanced overall water recovery from 42% to 98.9% via continuous enrichment and extraction of dissolved critical minerals, including lithium, from the MD concentrated stream. This conference presentation aims to discuss the implications of our findings and explore future research pathways for integrated water treatment and resource recovery technologies.
