Humidity-Controlled Sorbents for Efficient Cation Separation

Humidity-Controlled Sorbents for Efficient Cation Separation | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Physical Sciences - Article Humidity-Controlled Sorbents for Efficient Cation Separation Wei Liu, Jinjiang Liang, Xin Chen, Yining Zhang, Jiahao Feng, and 9 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5235953/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 26 Nov, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Precise ion sieving techniques are of great importance in various fields including the energy and environment. However, existing extraction methods, often associated with environmental risks, are lack of selectivity, time-consuming, and high cost. Here, we report a high-capacity sorbent made of polyacrylonitrile-chitosan composite spheres, capable of selectively adsorbing alkali or alkaline earth metal salts through controlled humidity levels, leveraging their distinct deliquescent humidity ranges. For lithium extraction specifically, this method demonstrates an extremely high adsorption capacity of 133.60 mg g-1, far above all existing adsorbents and sieves. Moreover, a rapid adsorption rate of 83.64 mg g-1 h-1 is achieved, with a high selectivity and a recovery rate. Crucially, this approach is heralded for its environmental friendliness, cost-efficiency, and low energy consumption. Physical sciences/Materials science/Techniques and instrumentation/Design, synthesis and processing Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences/Environmental impact Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Introduction Lithium's applications span across glass manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and nuclear energy sectors, with its demand for lithium batteries significantly amplified by the burgeoning electric vehicle market 1 . The reserves of terrestrial and marine lithium resources are about 14 million tons and 230 billion tons respectively 2-4 . Currently, lithium is sourced through industrially processes from lithium ores; however, it supply about 34% of the global lithium demand with only 0.1% of the global lithium reserves 2,5 . Lithium extraction from ores involves processes such as calcination, acid leaching, and precipitation. These are energy-intensive and require large quantities of chemical reagents like sulfuric acid, limestone, and sodium carbonate, also leading to environmental pollution 6-8 . Despite seawater’s vast availability and lack of geographic constraints, the exceedingly low lithium ion concentration (~0.2 ppm) and extremely high sodium ion concentration (~10,500 ppm) make the purification of lithium ions very challenging 3,9-11 . Terrestrial salt lakes are difficult to develop widely due to geographical factors and other interfering ions, and the current extraction techniques from salt lakes, such as evaporation concentration and chemical precipitation, are not only time-consuming but also suffer from low efficiency and cause considerable environmental pollution 12 . To address these issues, significant research has been focused on alternative extraction methods, including solvent extraction 13 , membrane separation 14-16 , ion sieve adsorption 17 , and electrochemical techniques 18 . However solvent extraction involves the use of hazardous organic solvents, membrane separation struggles with the separation of monovalent ions 16 , and ion sieve adsorption requires acids and bases leading to dissolution losses during extraction 19 . Recently, Chen et al. proposed a novel approach for lithium extraction using a physical method where hydrophilic cellulose ropes were employed to induce water evaporation, resulting in the selective ion separation in distinct spatial locations 20 . Despite this advancement, there remains an urgent need to develop efficient, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective lithium extraction technologies. In this work, we developed a physical technology for the precise and selective separation of alkali or alkaline earth metal ions using spherical sorbents composed of polyacrylonitrile and chitosan, utilizing the distinct deliquescent humidity ranges for salts. The hydrophilic sorbents can absorb a large amount of liquid dissolving the specific salt by controlling the environmental humidity. Taking lithium extraction as representative, this physical method indicated extremely high capacity, along with high purity and fast ion recovery rate by controlling relative humidity at 40%. Additionally, apart from using water vapor, this method can also utilize organic solvent vapors (such as ethanol) for extracting LiCl and other deliquescent salts. We also calculate the costs associated with this method, and it has advantages over almost all methods reported. Results and Discussion The process for physical lithium extraction by controlled humidity is illustrated in the Fig. 1a, using solid mixed salts obtained from ore through calcination and from salt lakes/seawater through evaporation 21-24 . The mixed salts were then mixed with spherical sorbents and placed in an adsorption column. The spherical sorbents made of polyacrylonitrile polyacrylonitrile and chitosan were synthesized using a phase transformation approach. By controlling the humidity of the air introduced into the adsorption column, specific salts were gradually absorbed by the sorbent spheres after deliquescence for a certain period. The other types of salt adhering to the sorbent could be recovered by sieving, and the adsorbent spheres were then placed in deionized water, thereby achieving the concentrated solution of target ion. By controlling different ranges of gas humidity, selective separation of specific ions can be achieved (Fig. 1b). For the detailed experiments, we selected to separate specific cations from a mixture of alkali or alkaline earth metal chlorides (LiCl, NaCl, KCl, MgCl 2 ), because Li + , Na + , K + , Mg 2+ are the primary cations in salt lakes and seawater 25 . The magnitude of a salt's hydration energy significantly affects its ability to bind with water molecules. Due to the lithium ion's smallest radius and highest point charge density, it has the greatest hydration capacity and is therefore most inclined to bind with water, followed by the order of Mg 2+ , Na + , and K + . When the mixed salts are exposed to different water vapor pressures, as the water vapor pressure increases, LiCl absorb water and deliquesce first, followed by magnesium chloride, then sodium chloride, and finally potassium chloride (Fig. 1c). At 25 °C and one atmosphere, LiCl, MgCl 2 , NaCl, and KCl deliquesce at relative humidities (RH) of 11%, 33%, 75%, and 84%, respectively. The critical humidity for deliquescence of these salts varies little across different temperatures (0-50 °C) (Supplementary Fig. 1). Based on this principle, we can selectively deliquesce the desired salts by controlling the humidity of the environment in which the mixed salts are placed, thereby achieving selective separation of the target ions. For example, when RH is maintained within the range of 11 - 33% in the adsorption column, LiCl deliquesces first, while MgCl 2 , NaCl, and KCl do not (Supplementary Fig. 2). Since the concentration of the deliquesced LiCl solution is usually very high, typically above 7 M (depending on RH), it can significantly inhibit the dissolution of other salts, resulting in a relatively pure LiCl solution. At this stage, the sorbent spheres could absorb the solution from the mixed salts. The other types of salts adhering to the sorbent spheres could be recovered by sieving. After absorbing the deliquescent solution, the sorbent spheres change color from white to light yellow, and the color can indicate the extent of solution adsorption by the sorbent (Fig. 1d). Finally, the sorbents are washed at a ratio of their pre-adsorption mass (g) to the volume of ultrapure water (ml) ranging from 1:10 to 1:2000 to obtain about 65.4 mg L -1 to 4.7 g L -1 target ions. In the experiment, to maximize the recovery of ions from the sorbents for a more accurate measurement of the ion adsorption capacity, a ratio of 1:2000 was used for recovery and testing. It can be observed from Supplementary Movie 1 that LiCl rapidly diffuses from the into the water. After the Li + has been extracted from the solid salts, RH can be tailored within the range of 33 - 75% to further separate Mg 2+ , and this process can be continued to separate the subsequent salts (Fig. 1b). In this physical adsorption technology, the composition and structure of the sorbent are crucial for its lithium extraction performance. The materials for the sorbent of large-scale production should meet the following criteria: 1) good hydrophilicity and high mechanical properties; 2) preparation accessibility; 3) environmentally friendly; and 4) widely available in nature. Based on these criteria, we screened the use of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and chitosan (CS) for the synthesis of composite sorbent, because these two materials satisfy the above requirements. To validate the hydrophilicity of polyacrylonitrile and chitosan, we predicted and measured the contact angles of the two materials using machine learning and contact angle testing. Initially, we used the types of functional groups and their density on the polymer chains as features for input, with the contact angle as the label. We then conducted machine learning predictions for 64 different polymers using sklearn's linear model, linear regression models, and neural networks (Fig. 2a and Supplementary Fig. 3 and 4). The results showed that the neural network performed the best, with an R² of 0.9526 (Fig. 2b and Extended Data 1). The predicted contact angles for PAN and CS were 53.78 ° and 46.96 °, respectively, while the actual measured values were 56.72 ° and 48.28 °, demonstrating good predictive accuracy (Fig. 2c and Supplementary Fig. 5a,b). Simultaneously, the PAN-CS composite adsorbent also exhibits good hydrophilicity, with a contact angle between the two, measured at 53.63° (Supplementary Fig. 5c). Based on these results, polyacrylonitrile and chitosan were ultimately selected as the materials for the adsorption sorbent. We synthesized sorbent spheres of polyacrylonitrile, polyacrylonitrile-chitosan, polyacrylonitrile-ethyl cellulose, and polyacrylonitrile-cellulose acetate through phase inversion. The sorbents have an average diameter of 3.7±0.1 mm (Supplementary Fig. 6). From scanning electron microscope (SEM) images (Supplementary Fig. 7), it can be observed that the spheres have multilevel channels perpendicular to the sphere surface, with pore sizes gradually increasing from the surface to the interior. The pores on the sorbent surface are very small, with a diameter of 18.0 ± 9.8 nm (Supplementary Fig. 7a), and the diameter of channels ranges from 5.2 ± 1.2 μm near the surface to 58.4 ± 17.8 μm at the center of the sphere (Supplementary Fig. 7b,c). Additionally, smaller pores are present within the pore walls, with diameters of 291.1 ± 102.9 nm (Supplementary Fig. 7d). Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) adsorption tests indicated that the pores in the composite sorbent have a wide distribution, ranging from 6 to 20 nm (Supplementary Fig. 8), which is consistent with the SEM results. These observations indicate that the internal structure of the sorbent is a three-dimensional network formed by pores of varying sizes interconnected throughout the sorbents. The cross-section structures of the composite sorbents before and after lithium extraction were systematically characterized. For the composite sorbents before lithium extraction, the nitrogen (N) element solely derived from polyacrylonitrile is uniformly distributed, while the oxygen (O) element exclusively from chitosan tends to aggregate, indicating that chitosan is embedded within the polyacrylonitrile in the sorbent sphere (Supplementary Fig. 9). This phenomenon occurs because, during the preparation of the composite sorbent, polyacrylonitrile dissolves in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), while chitosan does not. As a result, during the phase transition, chitosan becomes embedded within the composite sorbent. We tested the water absorption capacity of the composite sorbent by placing them in water and in a LiCl solution with a lithium ion concentration of 8.5 M, respectively, and leave for 10 days. The results showed that the composite sorbent could absorb 451% and 491% of their own weight in solution, respectively. This is because, after adsorption equilibrium is reached, the composite sorbent absorb the same volume of liquid, but the LiCl solution has a higher density, resulting in a greater absorption mass for the LiCl solution compared to water (Supplementary Fig. 10). Compared to the large depth-of-field (LDF) mode of the electron microscope and to achieve a more comprehensive observation of the element spatial distribution of sorbent spheres after Li extraction (extraction from LiCl/NaCl mixed salt of 3.33 mol% LiCl, 40% RH, 28 °C and mass of sorbent: mass of mixing salt = 5:200), we used the same parameters to capture an 8 8 cross-sectional SEM and EDS images and stitched them together (Fig. 3a-e and Supplementary Fig. 11). It can be observed that the internal pore structure of the composite sorbent remains unchanged after lithium extraction, still showing a radial pore arrangement. Energy disperse spectroscopy (EDS) analysis indicates that the signals of C, N, and O elements have significantly diminished (Fig. 3b,c), replaced by a nearly uniform distribution of Cl elements across the cross-sections of the sorbents (Fig. 3e). In contrast, Na elements are sparsely and isolatedly distributed on the section (Fig. 3d). Based on the law of charge conservation, we can indirectly infer that LiCl is extensively distributed within the interior of the sorbent sphere. Additionally, similar with SEM image, the 3D X-ray scanning image (Fig. 3f and Supplementary movie 2-4) also indicated that the pore size in the sorbent sphere decreases radially from the inside out. The 3D X-ray scanning image images also can reveal the element distribution due to the relative density differences, which demonstrate small regions of low density (green), small regions of high density (red), and a large area of moderately high density (yellow), corresponding to PAN-CS, NaCl crystals, and high-concentration LiCl solution, respectively. A large amount of LiCl envelops the composite sorbent, which diminishes the signals of C, N, and O elements. Meanwhile, a small amount of NaCl crystals is isolatedly distributed (Supplementary Fig. 12-14). The time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) mapping images (Fig. 3g, h and Supplementary Fig. 15, 16) indicated a substantial distribution of lithium on the pore walls of the sorbent, with only a small amount of Na present. This confirms the abundant presence of lithium and indicates that the separation and purification process was effective. Similar results were observed in other locations as well (Supplementary Fig. 17). These results indicated the high Li selectivity in the physical adsorption technology by controlling RH. To further demonstrate the significant lithium extraction in the sorbent spheres, we utilized X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) characterization techniques. The XPS results showed the presence of three distinct Li signals both before and after etching, corresponding to anhydrous, monohydrate, and dihydrate LiCl (Fig. 3i). Because LiCl predominantly exists in these three forms at room temperature 26 . The formation of these hydrates is due to the unavoidable adsorption of water vapor during the sample preparation for XPS. The surface of the sorbent spheres is the first to come into contact with water vapor, resulting in the strongest signal for dihydrate LiCl and the weakest signal for anhydrous LiCl. As etching progresses inward, the likelihood of internal regions coming into contact with water vapor decreases significantly, leading to a minimal signal for dihydrate LiCl, while the signals for anhydrous and monohydrate LiCl dominate. The oxygen signals also support this behavior of LiCl (Fig. 3j). Before lithium extraction, only three types of oxygen signals from chitosan were present in the composite sorbent. After lithium extraction, both before and after etching, hydration peaks appeared, confirming the presence of hydrated LiCl. Similarly, since sodium chloride does not form hydrates, it is represented by a single peak with low density (Fig. 3k). Then, we evaporated the recovered solution to dryness, obtaining a solid powder (Supplementary Fig. 18a). X-ray diffraction (XRD) results further confirmed that the main component of the powder is LiCl (Supplementary Fig. 18b). SEM and EDS analyses revealed that the distribution of sodium was much less than that of chlorine, indicating that the primary component of the solid powder is LiCl (Supplementary Fig. 19). ICP analysis showed that, among the cations in the solid powder, Li + accounted for 97.87 mol% and sodium ions for 2.13 mol%, demonstrating that the LiCl is of very high purity. Next, we carried out the Li extraction experiments and optimized the parameters for this physical adsorption technology. We first explored the effect of the mass ratio of sorbents and mixed salts on adsorption performances at 40% RH, 30 °C, using LiCl/NaCl mixed salt with Li + of 3.33 mol% (Supplementary Fig. 20a and Extended Data 2). It observed that the sorbent-to-salt ratio did not affect the purity of lithium salt after extraction, which is around 96.6 mol%, indicating the high selectivity for this method. Additionally, as the sorbent-to-salt ratio reduced from of 1:20 to 1:200, the adsorption specific capacity per unit mass of the sorbent increased from 78.19 to 169.27 mg g -1 , which means more sorbent utilization. However, at the same time, the amount of sorbent was insufficient to adsorb lithium from the mixed salts at a low proportion of sorbent, leading to a decrease in recovery rate, dropping from 97.6% to 21.2%. The recovery rate refers to the proportion of extracted lithium salt relative to the total lithium in mixed salt to be extracted. As a result, a sorbent-to-salt wt. ratio of 5:200 simultaneously possessed high adsorption capacity and good recovery rate for the physical lithium extraction, which is chosen for the next experiments. Furthermore, we investigated the lithium extraction performance of the sorbents under various ambient RH using 5:200 wt. ratio of sorbent spheres to mixed salt (Fig. 4a and Supplementary Fig. 21a and Extended Data 3). The results indicate that when the RH is between 25% and 40%, the adsorption capacity remains relatively stable at around 130 mg g -1 . This stability is due to the fact that as the humidity increases, both the concentration and viscosity of the deliquesced LiCl slightly decrease, which is a trade-off relationship for adsorption capacity. At the same time, the decrease in solution concentration weakens the ability of the LiCl solution to inhibit the dissolution of impurity salts (such as NaCl), leading to a slight decrease in purity, which was 97.87 mol%, 97.16 mol%, and 96.44 mol% at 25%, 30%, and 40% RH, respectively. However, as the humidity continued to increase to 70% RH, the adsorption capacity experienced a significant decline. At a 70% RH, the adsorption capacity dropped to 70.39 mg g -1 , and the purity also decreased sharply to 78.32 mol%. Therefore, considering both adsorption capacity and purity, 40% RH is optimal in this physical adsorption technology. Subsequently, we investigated the effect of adsorption time on adsorption capacity and purity at 40% RH using 5:200 wt. ratio of mixed salt to sorbent spheres (Fig. 4b and Supplementary Fig. 21b and Extended Data 4). The results show that the adsorption capacity increased with time, reaching its peak at 133.60 mg g -1 after 3 hours with a fast lithium extraction rate of 44.53 mg g -1 h -1 . Afterward, the adsorption capacity slightly decreased and stabilized at around 121 mg g -1 from the 5th hour onward. Similarly, purity also decreased slightly over time, dropping from an initial 97.55 mol% to 95.11 mol%. This decline in purity is due to the sorbent's diminished ability to inhibit the dissolution of NaCl, which occurs alongside the continuous reduction in the concentration of the deliquescent solution over time. We fitted the adsorption data using pseudo-first-order (PFO) and pseudo-second-order (PSO) kinetic models (Fig. 4b and Extended Data 5). The results show that the PFO kinetic model fits the data better, indicating that the adsorption rate is primarily influenced by the number of available adsorption sites, suggesting that the process is dominated by physical adsorption. Additionally, to determine the adsorption behavior of the sorbent in the solution and to identify whether the rate-determining step in the deliquescence adsorption process is the liquefaction of the salt or the adsorption by the sorbent. We immersed the composite sorbent in a LiCl solution with a Li + concentration of 8.5 M (corresponding to the deliquescence concentration at 40% RH) (Supplementary Fig. 22). The adsorption capacity of the composite sorbent exhibited an "S"-shaped curve. During the initial ~50 seconds, the adsorption rate increased continuously, corresponding to the process of the sorbent being wetted by the LiCl solution. From 50 to 150 seconds, a relatively stable adsorption rate was observed, which corresponds to the filling of the large radial pores inside the composite sorbent. From approximately 150 to 600 seconds, there was a slow increase in adsorption, corresponding to the filling of the small pores within the sorbent. After 600 seconds, the adsorption process reached equilibrium. It is noteworthy that the time required for the sorbent to reach equilibrium (10 minutes) is significantly shorter than the time required for salt deliquescence (3-4 hours) (Supplementary Fig. 23). Therefore, the rate-determining step in the entire humidity-controlled lithium extraction process is the deliquescence LiCl. Next, the relationship between Li + adsorption capacity and LiCl concentration was studied using pure LiCl solution, which corresponds to the isothermal adsorption process (Supplementary Fig. 24). The results show that the adsorption process fits the Freundlich model very well, indicating that the adsorption process involves multilayer adsorption. We conducted infrared spectroscopy (IR) tests on the raw materials used for synthesizing the composite sorbent—polyacrylonitrile, chitosan—as well as on the composite sorbent before lithium extraction, water-immersed composite sorbent, and the composite sorbent after lithium extraction (Supplementary Fig. 25). The results showed that none of the peaks shifted after lithium extraction, indicating that there was no chemical interaction between the lithium ions and the composite sorbent. Combined with the Freundlich model results that suggest multilayer adsorption, this indicates that the adsorption process is physical adsorption. Simultaneously, we conducted a cycling performance test of the sorbent using a mixed salt of LiCl (with a lithium ion content of 3.33 mol%) and NaCl at 40% RH (Fig. 4c). The results showed that after 100 cycles, the adsorption capacity retained a high capacity of 104.70 mg g -1 , indicating good cycling performance (Extended Data 6). It can be observed that the appearance of the sorbent shows almost no change before and after the cycling process. (Supplementary Fig. 26a,b). The stable cycling performance is due to its physical process rather than chemical reaction. Furthermore, we conducted lithium extraction tests under more practical conditions, with the testing environment set to 40% RH for 3 hours (Fig. 4d and Extended Data 7). Firstly, we attempted to separate Li from a Li, Na, and K salt mixture, for a LiCl\NaCl\KCl mixed salt with a Li + content of 3.72 mol%, the Li purity increased to 95.06 mol%. Next, in a simulated mixed salt resembling the composition of Taijinai’er salt lake, containing Li, Na, and K, the lithium ion purity increased from 1.69 mol% to 93.14 mol%. It should be noted that since the deliquescence humidity of MgCl 2 is 33%, it was necessary to lower the humidity to suppress the deliquescence of MgCl 2 for extracting Li from the mixed salts with Mg using this methods. Hence, when the humidity was reduced to 20% and lithium extraction was conducted for 10 hours, the lithium purity could be increased form 22.33 mol% to 95.41 mol% for the LiCl\NaCl\KCl\MgCl 2 mixed salts. In a simulated Zabuye Salt Lake containing Li, Na, K, Mg, and Ca, the Li + purity increased from 1.92 mol% to 93.41 mol% after lithium extraction and the recovery rate was 95.41%. The adsorption rate was 28.17 mg g -1 h -1 , with an adsorption capacity of 84.51 mg g -1 . The Li/Na selectivity of 4662.08, Li/K selectivity of 137.42, Li/Mg selectivity of 1.52, and Li/Ca selectivity of 6.95 were achieved. We also prepared a simulated seawater mixed salt with a composition of LiCl and NaCl (0.0050 mol% Li + and 99.9950 mol% Na + ), based on the proportions found in seawater. After lithium extraction using this physical adsorption technology, the lithium ion purity increased from 0.0050 mol% to 7.92 mol%, a 1584-fold increase, with Li/Na selectivity of 1733.85. At the same time, we performed magnesium extraction from a crude salt (crude salt is dried from sea water, and the content of Mg 2+ is 9.32 mol%) obtained by evaporating seawater, with the humidity controlled at 40% and an extraction time of 3 hours. The results showed that the magnesium ion purity increased from an initial 9.32 mol% to 65.42 mol%. When extracting Mg 2+ from a mixed salt with a composition similar to that of Taijinai'er Salt Lake (Na + : 70.12 mol%, K + : 5.55 mol%, Mg 2+ : 24.08 mol%, Ca 2+ :0.25 mol%), the Mg purity increased from 24.08 mol% to 88.73 mol%, demonstrating a good purification effect. These results indicate that by controlling the humidity within a specific range, we can selectively purify salts that have deliquescence points within that humidity range. Additionally, this deliquescence purification can occur not only in water vapor but also in the vapors of other solvents such as ethanol and acetone (Fig. 4e and Supplementary movie 5 and Extended Data 8). Therefore, we conducted lithium extraction tests on LiNa and LiNaK mixed salts using ethanol vapor. The results showed that the lithium ion purity increased from 3.33 mol% and 3.72 mol% to 98.40 mol% and 98.36 mol%, respectively. This is a better result compared to the purification under 40% relative humidity (96.44 mol% and 95.06 mol%, respectively). The improved separation is due to the fact that impurity salts (NaCl and KCl) are less soluble in ethanol, leading to more effective separation. Additionally, the adsorption capacities for lithium extraction using ethanol were 62.74 mg g -1 and 49.52 mg g -1 , respectively, which are lower than the adsorption capacity for lithium extraction using water vapor (133.60 mg g -1 ). This is because the solubility of LiCl in ethanol (5.73 mol kg -1 at 20 °C) is significantly lower than its solubility in water (19.82 mol kg -1 g at 20 °C). And, the adsorption rate was 20.91 mg g -1 h -1 using ethanol vapor. Finally, we compared our results with the most recent literatures on lithium extraction (Fig. 4f and Supplementary Table 1-4). In this work, within a mixed LiCl-NaCl salt of 3.33 mol% LiCl mol%, an extremely fast lithium extraction rate of 83.64 mg g -1 h -1 was achieved with an adsorption time of 1 hour and a high adsorption capacity of 83.64 mg g -1 . The optimal adsorption time of 3 hours resulted in an adsorption rate of 44.53 mg g -1 h -1 and an adsorption capacity of 133.60 mg g -1 . For the currently mainstream adsorbents, such as aluminum-based, manganese-based, and titanium-based adsorbents, the average adsorption rates and capacities are 2.16 mg g -1 h -1 and 6.32 mg g -1 , 1.40 mg g -1 h -1 and 34.11 mg g -1 , and 1.91 mg g -1 h -1 and 34.36 mg g -1 , respectively. In comparison, the deliquescence adsorption method shows a significant improvement by 4-62 times. Moreover, compared to electrochemical adsorption, which has a high adsorption capacity (averaging ~22.31 mg g -1 ) and fast kinetics (averaging ~10.59 mg g -1 h -1 ), our technology also demonstrates significant advantages. Moreover, compared to other methods, the chemicals used in this humidity-controlled lithium extraction technology using water vapor are eco-friendly, energy-efficient, and cost-effective. In the laboratory, the energy consumption for lithium extraction comes from gas output, and it is estimated that the energy consumption is 0.077 kWh kg -1 Li, making it an energy-efficient method 27-41 (Fig. 4g). The raw material cost for existing lithium extraction methods is over 2000 USD ton -1 of lithium carbonate (LCE) 34 , while the humidity-controlled lithium extraction technique only costs 81.89 USD (Fig. 4h). Last, we systematically investigated the mechanism behind deliquescence separation and purification, using the LiCl-NaCl binary salt system as an example (Fig. 5a and Extended Data 9). From the phase diagram, we can observe that the boundaries between the blue region and the sodium chloride saturation region (orange area) and between the blue region and the LiCl saturation region (the area indicated by the arrow) represent the solubility curves of the salt. Additionally, because LiCl has a very high solubility, the region where hydrated LiCl and the liquid phase coexist (the area indicated by the arrow) is very small. Typically, most phase diagrams focus on displaying the transitions between solid and liquid phases at atmospheric pressure (or under a fixed pressure). Furthermore, it is essential to represent the phase diagram in terms of the water vapor partial pressure (or relative humidity) to accurately depict the relevant phase behavior (Fig. 5b). In practice, measuring the water vapor partial pressure of a system is quite challenging and requires sophisticated instruments, especially for a complete phase diagram. Therefore, we used an ideal theoretical model based on Raoult's law, combined with empirical formulas for the saturation vapor pressures of LiCl and sodium chloride solutions, to qualitatively calculate the three-dimensional phase diagram of LiCl, sodium chloride, water, and relative humidity. From Fig. 5B, we can observe that when the salt concentration is zero, the water vapor partial pressure corresponds to the saturation vapor pressure of water, which aligns with 100% relative humidity. In a LiCl solution, as the concentration of LiCl increases, the relative humidity decreases continuously, stabilizing at around 11% once the solution reaches saturation. After this point, adding more solid LiCl does not change the composition of the solution, and therefore, the relative humidity remains constant. The same phenomenon occurs in NaCl solution, where the relative humidity stabilizes at 75% for saturated NaCl solution. Along the solubility line, there is a "ridge" in the relative humidity, meaning that adding LiCl to a saturated NaCl solution, or adding NaCl to a saturated LiCl solution, causes the vapor pressure to first increase and then decrease. Taking the addition of LiCl to a saturated NaCl solution as an example: according to the phase diagram, when LiCl is added to a saturated NaCl solution, a small amount of LiCl can precipitate more NaCl. This means that the reduction of NaCl decreases its inhibitory effect on water evaporation, leading to an increase in the vapor pressure of the solution. Since the added LiCl is present in a small quantity, its inhibitory effect on water evaporation cannot compensate for the impact caused by the reduction of NaCl. As a result, the vapor pressure/RH of the solution increases. In the region where both LiCl and NaCl are saturated, the vapor pressure remains around 11%, because the solution composition no longer changes with the addition of any solid, hence the relative humidity stays constant. Additionally, by projecting the three-dimensional phase diagram onto the z-axis, we can obtain a phase diagram of LiCl, NaCl, and water that includes information about humidity. This projection provides a clearer understanding of how relative humidity interacts with the solubility of these salts in water (Fig. 5c). For our experimental system, the initial composition was a mixed salt of 2.4 wt.% LiCl (Li + : 3.33 mol%) and 97.6 wt.% NaCl, which corresponds to the gray point on the phase diagram. When water vapor with 40% RH is introduced, the point representing the system on the phase diagram moves along a direction passing through the origin (indicated by the blue dashed line) until it reaches the equilibrium point on the 40% relative humidity contour (the blue point). Since the composite sorbent absorb liquid, the liquid corresponds to the point on the solubility curve where the equilibrium RH is 40%—represented by the pink point. From the phase diagram, it can be observed that at this stage, the solution is composed of a very concentrated LiCl solution with only a small amount of sodium chloride. We then compared the lithium extraction purity obtained at different relative humidities with the theoretically calculated purity (Fig. 5d). The overall trend shows good agreement, supporting the validity of our theoretical model. Discussion The humidity-controlled ion separating method offers an efficient approach to extract lithium and magnesium from solid mixed salts derived from ore/brine using water vapor through physical processes. We systematically studied the effects of humidity, adsorption time, and solvent vapor types on the lithium and magnesium extraction performances. This method indicated an extremely high lithium capacity of 133.60 mg g -1 , a significant improvement by 4-62 times compared to conventional lithium sieves. Meanwhile, the lithium extraction rate surpassed almost all existing methods. Additionally, a good stability was achieved, showing 78.37% capacity retention for 100 cycles. Importantly, material costs (81.89 USD ton -1 of lithium carbonate) and energy consumption (0.077 kWh kg -1 Li) have also been significantly reduced. Building on this, we hypothesize that this method could also be used to extract other elements such as cesium, thorium, zirconium, and yttrium. Moreover, considering the Moon's environment, where the lunar soil samples returned by China's Chang'e-5 mission have confirmed the presence of water 43 , but the environment does not meet the high water demands of traditional mining methods, using water vapor could significantly conserve water, making lunar mining more feasible. Overall, this work provides a fast, low-cost, and environmentally sustainable approach to purify a wide range of cations. Declarations Data availability All data are presented in the article and its Supplementary Information. Source data are provided with this paper. Acknowledgements The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52222311) and Double First-Class Initiative Fund of ShanghaiTech University. The microscopy experiments were supported by the Center for High-resolution Electron Microscopy (CћEM) at ShanghaiTech University. Author contributions W.L. supervised the study. W.L., J.L. and X.C. conceptualization and designed this project. W.L. and J.L. completed the design of the installation. J.L., Y.Z., J.F., X.Z., N.X., Y.Y., T.G., R.W., J.Y., X.H. and Y.Z. completed the characterization of this work. J.L. completed the machine learning section. W.L, J.L. finished writing the paper. Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests. References Xu, C. et al. Future material demand for automotive lithium-based batteries. Communications Materials 1 , 99, doi:10.1038/s43246-020-00095-x (2020). Ober, J. A. Mineral commodity summaries 2016. (US Geological Survey, 2016). Kudryavtsev, P. Lithium in nature, application, methods of extraction. Scientific Israel: Technological Advantages 18 (2016). Diallo, M. S., Kotte, M. R. & Cho, M. Mining Critical Metals and Elements from Seawater: Opportunities and Challenges. Environmental Science & Technology 49 , 9390-9399, doi:10.1021/acs.est.5b00463 (2015). Liu, G., Zhao, Z. & Ghahreman, A. Novel approaches for lithium extraction from salt-lake brines: A review. Hydrometallurgy 187 , 81-100, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hydromet.2019.05.005 (2019). Salakjani, N. K., Singh, P. & Nikoloski, A. N. Production of Lithium – A Literature Review Part 1: Pretreatment of Spodumene. Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy Review 41 , 335-348, doi:10.1080/08827508.2019.1643343 (2020). Salakjani, N. K., Singh, P. & Nikoloski, A. N. Production of Lithium –A Literature Review. Part 2. Extraction from Spodumene. Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy Review 42 , 268-283, doi:10.1080/08827508.2019.1700984 (2021). Neikov, O. D., Naboychenko, S. S. & Murashova, I. B. in Handbook of Non-Ferrous Metal Powders (Second Edition) (eds Oleg D. Neikov, Stanislav S. Naboychenko, & Nikolay A. Yefimov) 757-829 (Elsevier, 2019). Weldeghebriel, M. F. & Lowenstein, T. K. Seafloor hydrothermal systems control long-term changes in seawater [Li+]: Evidence from fluid inclusions. Science Advances 9 , eadf1605, doi:doi:10.1126/sciadv.adf1605 (2023). Harvey, H. W. The Chemistry and Fertility of Sea Waters, H. W. Harvey, Sc.D., F.R.S. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1955. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 35 , 289-289, doi:10.1017/S0025315400009127 (1956). Huber, C. et al. Optical sensor for seawater salinity. Fresenius' Journal of Analytical Chemistry 368 , 196-202, doi:10.1007/s002160000493 (2000). Vera, M. L., Torres, W. R., Galli, C. I., Chagnes, A. & Flexer, V. Environmental impact of direct lithium extraction from brines. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment 4 , 149-165, doi:10.1038/s43017-022-00387-5 (2023). Swain, B. Separation and purification of lithium by solvent extraction and supported liquid membrane, analysis of their mechanism: a review. Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology 91 , 2549-2562, doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/jctb.4976 (2016). Li, X. et al. 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Desalination 539 , 115951, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2022.115951 (2022). Chen, X. et al. Spatially separated crystallization for selective lithium extraction from saline water. Nature Water 1 , 808-817, doi:10.1038/s44221-023-00131-3 (2023). Zhang, S. et al. Solar-driven membrane separation for direct lithium extraction from artificial salt-lake brine. Nature Communications 15 , 238 (2024). Zhang, L. et al. Highly efficient and salt rejecting solar evaporation via a wick-free confined water layer. Nature Communications 13 , 849, doi:10.1038/s41467-022-28457-8 (2022). Menon, A. K., Haechler, I., Kaur, S., Lubner, S. & Prasher, R. S. Enhanced solar evaporation using a photo-thermal umbrella for wastewater management. Nature Sustainability 3 , 144-151, doi:10.1038/s41893-019-0445-5 (2020). Xu, N. et al. Going beyond efficiency for solar evaporation. Nature Water 1 , 494-501, doi:10.1038/s44221-023-00086-5 (2023). Mends, E. A. & Chu, P. Lithium extraction from unconventional aqueous resources – A review on recent technological development for seawater and geothermal brines. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 11 , 110710, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2023.110710 (2023). Rau, J. J. Thermodynamic characteristics of lithium chloride in rotary heat and mass exchangers , (1989). Guo, Z.-Y. et al. Prefractionation of LiCl from concentrated seawater/salt lake brines by electrodialysis with monovalent selective ion exchange membranes. Journal of Cleaner Production 193 , 338-350 (2018). Zhang, X.-C. et al. Preparation of Li2CO3 from high Mg2+/Li+ brines based on selective-electrodialysis with feed and bleed mode. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering 9 , 106635 (2021). Ji, P.-Y. et al. Effect of coexisting ions on recovering lithium from high Mg2+/Li+ ratio brines by selective-electrodialysis. Separation and Purification technology 207 , 1-11 (2018). Lee, D.-H. et al. Selective lithium recovery from aqueous solution using a modified membrane capacitive deionization system. Hydrometallurgy 173 , 283-288, doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hydromet.2017.09.005 (2017). Ying, J., Luo, M., Jin, Y. & Yu, J. Selective separation of lithium from high Mg/Li ratio brine using single-stage and multi-stage selective electrodialysis processes. Desalination 492 , 114621 (2020). Yang, S., Zhang, F., Ding, H., He, P. & Zhou, H. Lithium metal extraction from seawater. Joule 2 , 1648-1651 (2018). Li, Z. et al. Continuous electrical pumping membrane process for seawater lithium mining. Energy & Environmental Science 14 , 3152-3159 (2021). Xu, R. et al. Continuous lithium extraction from brine by efficient redox-couple electrodialysis. Matter , doi:10.1016/j.matt.2024.07.014. Trócoli, R., Battistel, A. & Mantia, F. L. Selectivity of a Lithium‐Recovery Process Based on LiFePO4. Chemistry–A European Journal 20 , 9888-9891 (2014). Trócoli, R., Battistel, A. & La Mantia, F. Nickel hexacyanoferrate as suitable alternative to Ag for electrochemical lithium recovery. ChemSusChem 8 , 2514-2519 (2015). Kim, S., Lee, J., Kim, S., Kim, S. & Yoon, J. Electrochemical lithium recovery with a LiMn2O4–zinc battery system using zinc as a negative electrode. Energy Technology 6 , 340-344 (2018). Trócoli, R., Erinmwingbovo, C. & La Mantia, F. Optimized lithium recovery from brines by using an electrochemical Ion‐Pumping process based on λ‐MnO2 and nickel hexacyanoferrate. ChemElectroChem 4 , 143-149 (2017). Kim, S. et al. Lithium recovery from brine using a λ-MnO2/activated carbon hybrid supercapacitor system. Chemosphere 125 , 50-56 (2015). Xu, X. et al. A Self‐Supported λ‐MnO2 Film Electrode used for Electrochemical Lithium Recovery from Brines. ChemPlusChem 83 , 521-528 (2018). Missoni, L. L., Marchini, F., del Pozo, M. & Calvo, E. J. A LiMn2O4-polypyrrole system for the extraction of LiCl from natural brine. Journal of the Electrochemical Society 163 , A1898 (2016). Wang, S.-q., Guo, Y.-f., Liu, D.-f. & Deng, T.-l. Phase equilibria in system LiCl–NaCl–H 2 O at 308 and 348 K. Russian Journal of Physical Chemistry A 90 , 2532-2537 (2016). Jin, S. et al. Evidence of a hydrated mineral enriched in water and ammonium molecules in the Chang’e-5 lunar sample. Nature Astronomy , doi:10.1038/s41550-024-02306-8 (2024). Methods Preparation of Polyacrylonitrile-Chitosan Composite Sorbents Mix polyacrylonitrile (PAN), chitosan (CS), and N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) in a ratio of 2 g: 1 g: 20 ml and stir thoroughly for 6 hours to ensure that PAN is fully dissolved in DMF, forming a suspension containing CS. Then, use a dropper to slowly drop the suspension into 200 ml of ultrapure water to form sorbent, maintaining a height of 13 cm between the dropper outlet and the water surface. Subsequently, wash the sorbents three times with 400ml of ultrapure water and twice with 200ml of ethanol. Finally, dry the beads under vacuum at room temperature to obtain dried sorbents. Humidity Control Pass air through different concentrations of salt solutions to achieve the desired humidity. For example, to obtain air with a RH of 40%, start by adding 300 ml of saturated CH 3 COOK solution into a 1L gas-washing bottle. Then, pass air through the bottle at a rate of 3 L min -1 (flow speed is approximately 2.3 cm s -1 ) and use a hygrometer to measure the humidity at the outlet. Initially, the outlet humidity will be lower than 40% (since the equilibrium relative humidity (ERH) of saturated potassium acetate solution is around 26% at 25°C). Next, slowly add ultrapure water into the gas-washing bottle while continuously monitoring the outlet humidity. Keep the system running for one hour, ensuring the humidity remains stable. As water is added to the bottle, the concentration of CH 3 COOK decreases, which increases the ERH. Continue this process until the outlet RH stabilizes at 40%, at which point the specific humidity control is achieved. Lithium extraction procedure Mix the sorbent with the mixed salt in a mass ratio of 1:20, and place the mixture into a chromatography column (used as an adsorption column) that is 30 cm long with an outer diameter of 50 mm and equipped with a sintered glass filter. Use a glass rod to thoroughly stir and mix the sorbents with the mixed salt. Then, introduce humid air of specific humidity into the adsorption column (flow speed is 2 L min -1 ) to ensure sufficient deliquescence and adsorption of LiCl, temperature maintained at 28 °C. Stir the mixture with a glass rod for 1 minute every hour to promote more thorough adsorption by the sorbents. After the adsorption process is complete, use an 18-mesh screen to separate the sorbents from the impurity salts, and purge the sorbents with nitrogen gas (The aim is to remove the impurities salt that stick to the surface). Finally, add the sorbents to 1000 ml of ultrapure water and let them stabilize for 12 hours to recover the LiCl. Solution Ion Concentration Analysis In the experiments, the concentration of all ions in the solution was measured using an Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometer (ICP-OES). Specifically, the concentrations of Li⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, Mg²⁺, and Ca²⁺ in all samples were measured using a Thermo Scientific ICP-OES iCAP 7400. To prevent dilution-related errors, multiple samples with varying dilution ratios were tested for each measurement. Adsorption capacity, lithium recovery, and selectivity After lithium extraction, to ensure the Li + are fully leached out, the sorbents are placed in 1000 ml of ultrapure water and left to stand for 12 hours. Subsequently, different dilutions of the sample are measured using ICP to avoid errors caused by dilution. The lithium adsorption capacity is calculated as the total mass of Li + leached into the solution divided by the weight of the sorbent (Equation (1)), as follows: The recovery is determined by dividing the total mass of Li in the solution by the total mass of Li in the solid mixed salt (Equation (2)). Selectivity is calculated by dividing the percentage of Li/M in the post-extraction solution by the percentage of Li/M in the solid salt (Equation (3)), where M represents Li, Na, K, Mg, and Ca. The sorbent utilization is calculated by dividing the amount of lithium absorbed by the sorbent in the solid salt by the absorption capacity of the sorbent in LiCl deliquescent solution at the corresponding humidity. Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SupportingInformation.docx Supporting Information MovieS1.mp4 Movie S1 MovieS2.mp4 Movie S2 MovieS3.mp4 Movie S3 MovieS4.mp4 Movie S4 MovieS5.mp4 Movie S5 Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 26 Nov, 2025 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. 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03:10:22","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5235953/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5235953/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-65607-0","type":"published","date":"2025-11-26T05:00:00+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":78740799,"identity":"32bddab4-92ee-4098-917a-d99f38cf3f11","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-03-18 09:19:14","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":1721703,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePhysical sorbent for extracting lithium from mixed salts using polyacrylonitrile-chitosan composite spheres by manipulating humidity. a\u003c/strong\u003e, Schematic illustration of the procedure for lithium extraction. \u003cstrong\u003eb\u003c/strong\u003e, Separating a specific salt in the mixture by adjusting the range of humidity. \u003cstrong\u003ec\u003c/strong\u003e, The state of various salts at different temperatures and vapor pressure of water. \u003cstrong\u003ed\u003c/strong\u003e, Photos of the spheres as sorbent before and after lithium extraction.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5235953/v1/2057fb626f7839031a3826ed.png"},{"id":78740801,"identity":"2d6dce86-feb4-4e16-9667-c0875cafb4d1","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-03-18 09:19:14","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":571234,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSelect hydrophilic materials through neural network by machine learning. a\u003c/strong\u003e,\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c/strong\u003eThe contact angle of the polymer is predicted by the input of the functional group, surface energy, etc. \u003cstrong\u003eb\u003c/strong\u003e, Training results for training sets and test sets. \u003cstrong\u003ec\u003c/strong\u003e, The contact angle between polyacrylonitrile and chitosan was predicted.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5235953/v1/ffa856d7a959e4ec793689b8.png"},{"id":78740802,"identity":"512f6afa-f2bf-4652-97d5-623b2b0baf1d","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-03-18 09:19:14","extension":"png","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":2708579,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMicro morphology of sorbent\u003c/strong\u003e \u003cstrong\u003espheres\u003c/strong\u003e \u003cstrong\u003efor the lithium extraction a\u003c/strong\u003e, Stitched SEM image of section of polyacrylonitrile-chitosan composite sphere after lithium extraction, with corresponding EDS mapping of \u003cstrong\u003eb\u003c/strong\u003e, nitrogen, \u003cstrong\u003ec\u003c/strong\u003e, oxygen, \u003cstrong\u003ed\u003c/strong\u003e, sodium and \u003cstrong\u003ee\u003c/strong\u003e, chloride. \u003cstrong\u003ef, \u003c/strong\u003e3D X-ray scanning image of the adsorbent spheres after lithium extraction. TOF-SIMS mapping images of \u003cstrong\u003eg\u003c/strong\u003e, lithium and \u003cstrong\u003eh\u003c/strong\u003e, Na elemental near the center of the sphere after lithium extraction (marked by a red box in Fig. 3a). XPS analysis of adsorption spheres after lithium extraction for \u003cstrong\u003ei\u003c/strong\u003e, lithium, \u003cstrong\u003ej\u003c/strong\u003e, sodium and \u003cstrong\u003ek\u003c/strong\u003e, oxygen.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"3.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5235953/v1/56d945e72345b942e30042e9.png"},{"id":78741789,"identity":"30f87d8f-cdcf-42f3-9efe-b7e37871f567","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-03-18 09:27:14","extension":"png","order_by":4,"title":"Figure 4","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":618571,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eExtracting performances of the sorbent spheres\u003c/strong\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eby controlling\u003c/strong\u003e \u003cstrong\u003ehumidity. a\u003c/strong\u003e, The adsorption capacity and purity of lithium extraction under different relative humidity and \u003cstrong\u003eb\u003c/strong\u003e, different lithium extraction time. \u003cstrong\u003ec\u003c/strong\u003e, Practical applications for Li extraction including seawater, LiCl\\NaCl mixing salt, LiCl\\NaCl\\KCl mixing salt, LiCl\\NaCl\\KCl mixing salt with ratio of Taijinai’er salt lake, LiCl\\NaCl\\KCl\\MgCl\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e mixing salt, LiCl\\NaCl\\KCl\\MgCl\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e\\CaCl\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e mixing salt with ratio of Zhabuye salt lake using the sorbent spheres by controlling humidity, and for Mg extraction.\u003cstrong\u003e d\u003c/strong\u003e, Lithium extraction using ethanol vapor. \u003cstrong\u003ee\u003c/strong\u003e, Cycle performance of the sorbents at a relative humidity of 40%. \u003cstrong\u003ef\u003c/strong\u003e, Comparison of Li adsorption capacity, rate and purity in our work with reported data. \u003cstrong\u003eg\u003c/strong\u003e, Comparison of energy consumption of lithium extraction by humidity-controlled and lithium extraction by electrodialysis. \u003cstrong\u003eh\u003c/strong\u003e, Raw materials cost comparison between lithium extraction by humidity-controlled and evaporation ponds and metal-based adsorbent.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"4.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5235953/v1/a107590fde3f749e85e60221.png"},{"id":78740803,"identity":"3487e51d-4571-47cf-a641-9378e7f55e7d","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-03-18 09:19:14","extension":"png","order_by":5,"title":"Figure 5","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":1334867,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMechanism on lithium extraction by humidity control. a\u003c/strong\u003e,\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c/strong\u003eSodium chloride, LiCl and ambient relative humidity contour map\u003csup\u003e42\u003c/sup\u003es. \u003cstrong\u003eb\u003c/strong\u003e, Phase diagram of LiCl, sodium chloride and water. \u003cstrong\u003ec\u003c/strong\u003e, Phase diagram iso-humidity line and zoomed-in image of the region with LiCl mass fraction at range of 0-5% and sodium chloride mass fraction 90-100%. \u003cstrong\u003ed\u003c/strong\u003e, The relationship between the purity of lithium and humidity\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"5.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5235953/v1/ac8d30c20c405026dacb05dd.png"},{"id":96885100,"identity":"3d25f423-5090-492c-92dd-8e0bd54a117f","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-27 08:06:12","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":9131076,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5235953/v1/af06ed63-2be9-4f51-92b2-64cc386fa141.pdf"},{"id":78740808,"identity":"85f4101c-a37a-458f-9b99-4928de7c629c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-03-18 09:19:15","extension":"docx","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":34613246,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eSupporting Information\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"SupportingInformation.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5235953/v1/fe26ff55b8aa7ac6d2a0561b.docx"},{"id":78740810,"identity":"04ddd101-3d4d-43d5-8417-9f6e8c0f90df","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-03-18 09:19:15","extension":"mp4","order_by":2,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":40640315,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Movie S1","description":"","filename":"MovieS1.mp4","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5235953/v1/bc2c0c0fb1bf4d0a7f4c8b6b.mp4"},{"id":78740806,"identity":"8240ed2a-642f-4f8e-a0f1-7b66f3faaab5","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-03-18 09:19:14","extension":"mp4","order_by":3,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":17224628,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Movie S2","description":"","filename":"MovieS2.mp4","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5235953/v1/b4b96b23ea21c78d279850d9.mp4"},{"id":78740805,"identity":"354337a0-4ff4-4b1c-b404-40bc053f554d","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-03-18 09:19:14","extension":"mp4","order_by":4,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":26052305,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Movie S3","description":"","filename":"MovieS3.mp4","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5235953/v1/21c3822e75f998111bf3c657.mp4"},{"id":78740807,"identity":"ea16871e-cd93-45e5-966c-188dd10a277a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-03-18 09:19:14","extension":"mp4","order_by":5,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":25248738,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Movie S4","description":"","filename":"MovieS4.mp4","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5235953/v1/d872eefd0a9af3c87dcccc55.mp4"},{"id":78740809,"identity":"a632745d-14c4-428d-a38b-de4746414cc7","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-03-18 09:19:15","extension":"mp4","order_by":6,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":26872752,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Movie S5","description":"","filename":"MovieS5.mp4","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5235953/v1/29ab22760d4a81b33341f833.mp4"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Humidity-Controlled Sorbents for Efficient Cation Separation","fulltext":[{"header":"Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eLithium's applications span across glass manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and nuclear energy sectors, with its demand for lithium batteries significantly amplified by the burgeoning electric vehicle market\u003csup\u003e1\u003c/sup\u003e. The reserves of terrestrial and marine lithium resources are about 14 million tons and 230 billion tons respectively\u003csup\u003e2-4\u003c/sup\u003e. Currently, lithium is sourced through industrially processes from lithium ores; however, it supply about 34% of the global lithium demand with only 0.1% of the global lithium reserves\u003csup\u003e2,5\u003c/sup\u003e. Lithium extraction from ores involves processes such as calcination, acid leaching, and precipitation. These are energy-intensive and require large quantities of chemical reagents like sulfuric acid, limestone, and sodium carbonate, also leading to environmental pollution\u003csup\u003e6-8\u003c/sup\u003e. Despite seawater’s vast availability and lack of geographic constraints, the exceedingly low lithium ion concentration (~0.2 ppm) and extremely high sodium ion concentration (~10,500 ppm) make the purification of lithium ions very challenging\u003csup\u003e3,9-11\u003c/sup\u003e. Terrestrial salt lakes are difficult to develop widely due to geographical factors\u0026nbsp;and other interfering ions, and the current extraction techniques from salt lakes, such as evaporation concentration and chemical precipitation, are not only time-consuming but also suffer from low efficiency and cause considerable environmental pollution\u003csup\u003e12\u003c/sup\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo address these issues, significant research has been focused on alternative extraction methods, including solvent extraction\u003csup\u003e13\u003c/sup\u003e, membrane separation\u003csup\u003e14-16\u003c/sup\u003e, ion sieve adsorption\u003csup\u003e17\u003c/sup\u003e, and electrochemical techniques\u003csup\u003e18\u003c/sup\u003e. However solvent extraction involves the use of hazardous organic solvents, membrane separation struggles with the separation of monovalent ions\u003csup\u003e16\u003c/sup\u003e, and ion sieve adsorption requires acids and bases leading to dissolution losses during extraction\u003csup\u003e19\u003c/sup\u003e. Recently, Chen et al. proposed a novel approach for lithium extraction using a physical method where hydrophilic cellulose ropes were employed to induce water evaporation, resulting in the selective ion separation in distinct spatial locations\u003csup\u003e20\u003c/sup\u003e. Despite this advancement, there remains an urgent need to develop efficient, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective lithium extraction technologies.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn this work, we developed a physical technology for the precise and selective separation of alkali or alkaline earth metal ions using spherical sorbents composed of polyacrylonitrile and chitosan, utilizing the distinct deliquescent humidity ranges for salts. The hydrophilic sorbents can absorb a large amount of liquid dissolving the specific salt by controlling the environmental humidity. Taking lithium extraction as representative, this physical method indicated extremely high capacity, along with high purity and fast ion recovery rate by controlling relative humidity at 40%. Additionally, apart from using water vapor, this method can also utilize organic solvent vapors (such as ethanol) for extracting LiCl and other deliquescent salts. We also calculate the costs associated with this method, and it has advantages over almost all methods reported.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Results and Discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe process for physical lithium extraction by controlled humidity is illustrated in the Fig. 1a, using solid mixed salts obtained from ore through calcination and from salt lakes/seawater through evaporation\u003csup\u003e21-24\u003c/sup\u003e. The mixed salts were then mixed with spherical sorbents and placed in an adsorption column. The spherical sorbents made of polyacrylonitrile polyacrylonitrile and chitosan were synthesized using a phase transformation approach. By controlling the humidity of the air introduced into the adsorption column, specific salts were gradually absorbed by the sorbent spheres after deliquescence for a certain period. The other types of salt adhering to the sorbent could be recovered by sieving, and the adsorbent spheres were then placed in deionized water, thereby achieving the concentrated solution of target ion. By controlling different ranges of gas humidity, selective separation of specific ions can be achieved (Fig. 1b).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor the detailed experiments, we selected to separate specific cations from a mixture of alkali or alkaline earth metal chlorides (LiCl, NaCl, KCl, MgCl\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e), because Li\u003csup\u003e+\u003c/sup\u003e, Na\u003csup\u003e+\u003c/sup\u003e, K\u003csup\u003e+\u003c/sup\u003e, Mg\u003csup\u003e2+\u003c/sup\u003e are the primary cations in salt lakes and seawater\u003csup\u003e25\u003c/sup\u003e. The magnitude of a salt's hydration energy significantly affects its ability to bind with water molecules. Due to the lithium ion's smallest radius and highest point charge density, it has the greatest hydration capacity and is therefore most inclined to bind with water, followed by the order of Mg\u003csup\u003e2+\u003c/sup\u003e, Na\u003csup\u003e+\u003c/sup\u003e, and K\u003csup\u003e+\u003c/sup\u003e. When the mixed salts are exposed to different water vapor pressures, as the water vapor pressure increases, LiCl absorb water and deliquesce first, followed by magnesium chloride, then sodium chloride, and finally potassium chloride (Fig. 1c). At 25 °C and one atmosphere, LiCl, MgCl\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e, NaCl, and KCl deliquesce at relative humidities (RH) of 11%, 33%, 75%, and 84%, respectively. The critical humidity for deliquescence of these salts varies little across different temperatures (0-50 °C) (Supplementary Fig. 1). Based on this principle, we can selectively deliquesce the desired salts by controlling the humidity of the environment in which the mixed salts are placed, thereby achieving selective separation of the target ions. For example, when RH is maintained within the range of 11 - 33% in the adsorption column, LiCl deliquesces first, while MgCl\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e, NaCl, and KCl do not (Supplementary Fig. 2). Since the concentration of the deliquesced LiCl solution is usually very high, typically above 7 M (depending on RH), it can significantly inhibit the dissolution of other salts, resulting in a relatively pure LiCl solution. At this stage, the sorbent spheres could absorb the solution from the mixed salts. The other types of salts adhering to the sorbent spheres could be recovered by sieving. After absorbing the deliquescent solution, the sorbent spheres change color from white to light yellow, and the color can indicate the extent of solution adsorption by the sorbent (Fig. 1d). Finally, the sorbents are washed at a ratio of their pre-adsorption mass (g) to the volume of ultrapure water (ml) ranging from 1:10 to 1:2000 to obtain about 65.4 mg L\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e to 4.7 g L\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e target ions. In the experiment, to maximize the recovery of ions from the sorbents for a more accurate measurement of the ion adsorption capacity, a ratio of 1:2000 was used for recovery and testing. It can be observed from Supplementary Movie 1 that LiCl rapidly diffuses from the into the water. After the Li\u003csup\u003e+\u003c/sup\u003e has been extracted from the solid salts, RH can be tailored within the range of 33 - 75% to further separate Mg\u003csup\u003e2+\u003c/sup\u003e, and this process can be continued to separate the subsequent salts (Fig. 1b).\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;In this physical adsorption technology, the composition and structure of the sorbent are crucial for its lithium extraction performance. The materials for the sorbent of large-scale production should meet the following criteria: 1) good hydrophilicity and high mechanical properties; 2) preparation accessibility; 3) environmentally friendly; and 4) widely available in nature. Based on these criteria, we screened the use of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and chitosan (CS) for the synthesis of composite sorbent, because these two materials satisfy the above requirements. To validate the hydrophilicity of polyacrylonitrile and chitosan, we predicted and measured the contact angles of the two materials using machine learning and contact angle testing. Initially, we used the types of functional groups and their density on the polymer chains as features for input, with the contact angle as the label. We then conducted machine learning predictions for 64 different polymers using sklearn's linear model, linear regression models, and neural networks (Fig. 2a and Supplementary Fig. 3 and 4). The results showed that the neural network performed the best, with an R² of 0.9526 (Fig. 2b and Extended Data 1). The predicted contact angles for PAN and CS were 53.78 ° and 46.96 °, respectively, while the actual measured values were 56.72 ° and 48.28 °, demonstrating good predictive accuracy (Fig. 2c and Supplementary Fig. 5a,b). Simultaneously, the PAN-CS composite adsorbent also exhibits good hydrophilicity, with a contact angle between the two, measured at 53.63° (Supplementary Fig. 5c). Based on these results, polyacrylonitrile and chitosan were ultimately selected as the materials for the adsorption sorbent.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe synthesized sorbent spheres of polyacrylonitrile, polyacrylonitrile-chitosan, polyacrylonitrile-ethyl cellulose, and polyacrylonitrile-cellulose acetate through phase inversion. The sorbents have an average diameter of 3.7±0.1 mm (Supplementary Fig. 6). From scanning electron microscope (SEM) images (Supplementary Fig. 7), it can be observed that the spheres have multilevel channels perpendicular to the sphere surface, with pore sizes gradually increasing from the surface to the interior. The pores on the sorbent surface are very small, with a diameter of 18.0 ± 9.8 nm (Supplementary Fig. 7a), and the diameter of channels ranges from 5.2 ± 1.2 μm near the surface to 58.4 ± 17.8 μm at the center of the sphere (Supplementary Fig. 7b,c). Additionally, smaller pores are present within the pore walls, with diameters of 291.1 ± 102.9 nm (Supplementary Fig. 7d). Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) adsorption tests indicated that the pores in the composite sorbent have a wide distribution, ranging from 6 to 20 nm (Supplementary Fig. 8), which is consistent with the SEM results. These observations indicate that the internal structure of the sorbent is a three-dimensional network formed by pores of varying sizes interconnected throughout the sorbents.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;The cross-section structures of the composite sorbents before and after lithium extraction were systematically characterized. For the composite sorbents before lithium extraction, the nitrogen (N) element solely derived from polyacrylonitrile is uniformly distributed, while the oxygen (O) element exclusively from chitosan tends to aggregate, indicating that chitosan is embedded within the polyacrylonitrile in the sorbent sphere (Supplementary Fig. 9). This phenomenon occurs because, during the preparation of the composite sorbent, polyacrylonitrile dissolves in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), while chitosan does not. As a result, during the phase transition, chitosan becomes embedded within the composite sorbent. We tested the water absorption capacity of the composite sorbent by placing them in water and in a LiCl solution with a lithium ion concentration of 8.5 M, respectively, and leave for 10 days. The results showed that the composite sorbent could absorb 451% and 491% of their own weight in solution, respectively. This is because, after adsorption equilibrium is reached, the composite sorbent absorb the same volume of liquid, but the LiCl solution has a higher density, resulting in a greater absorption mass for the LiCl solution compared to water (Supplementary Fig. 10).\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;Compared to the large depth-of-field (LDF) mode of the electron microscope and to achieve a more comprehensive observation of the element spatial distribution of sorbent spheres after Li extraction (extraction from LiCl/NaCl mixed salt of 3.33 mol% LiCl, 40% RH, 28 °C and mass of sorbent: mass of mixing salt = 5:200), we used the same parameters to capture an 8 8 cross-sectional SEM and EDS images and stitched them together (Fig. 3a-e and Supplementary Fig. 11). It can be observed that the internal pore structure of the composite sorbent remains unchanged after lithium extraction, still showing a radial pore arrangement. Energy disperse spectroscopy (EDS) analysis indicates that the signals of C, N, and O elements have significantly diminished (Fig. 3b,c), replaced by a nearly uniform distribution of Cl elements across the cross-sections of the sorbents (Fig. 3e). In contrast, Na elements are sparsely and isolatedly distributed on the section (Fig. 3d). Based on the law of charge conservation, we can indirectly infer that LiCl is extensively distributed within the interior of the sorbent sphere.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;Additionally, similar with SEM image, the 3D X-ray scanning image (Fig. 3f and Supplementary movie 2-4) also indicated that the pore size in the sorbent sphere decreases radially from the inside out. The 3D X-ray scanning image images also can reveal the element distribution due to the relative density differences, which demonstrate small regions of low density (green), small regions of high density (red), and a large area of moderately high density (yellow), corresponding to PAN-CS, NaCl crystals, and high-concentration LiCl solution, respectively. A large amount of LiCl envelops the composite sorbent, which diminishes the signals of C, N, and O elements. Meanwhile, a small amount of NaCl crystals is isolatedly distributed (Supplementary Fig. 12-14). The time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) mapping images (Fig. 3g, h and Supplementary Fig. 15, 16) indicated a substantial distribution of lithium on the pore walls of the sorbent, with only a small amount of Na present. This confirms the abundant presence of lithium and indicates that the separation and purification process was effective. Similar results were observed in other locations as well (Supplementary Fig. 17). These results indicated the high Li selectivity in the physical adsorption technology by controlling RH.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;To further demonstrate the significant lithium extraction in the sorbent spheres, we utilized X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) characterization techniques. The XPS results showed the presence of three distinct Li signals both before and after etching, corresponding to anhydrous, monohydrate, and dihydrate LiCl (Fig. 3i). Because LiCl predominantly exists in these three forms at room temperature\u003csup\u003e26\u003c/sup\u003e. The formation of these hydrates is due to the unavoidable adsorption of water vapor during the sample preparation for XPS. The surface of the sorbent spheres is the first to come into contact with water vapor, resulting in the strongest signal for dihydrate LiCl and the weakest signal for anhydrous LiCl. As etching progresses inward, the likelihood of internal regions coming into contact with water vapor decreases significantly, leading to a minimal signal for dihydrate LiCl, while the signals for anhydrous and monohydrate LiCl dominate. The oxygen signals also support this behavior of LiCl (Fig. 3j). Before lithium extraction, only three types of oxygen signals from chitosan were present in the composite sorbent. After lithium extraction, both before and after etching, hydration peaks appeared, confirming the presence of hydrated LiCl. Similarly, since sodium chloride does not form hydrates, it is represented by a single peak with low density (Fig. 3k).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThen, we evaporated the recovered solution to dryness, obtaining a solid powder (Supplementary Fig. 18a). X-ray diffraction (XRD) results further confirmed that the main component of the powder is LiCl (Supplementary Fig. 18b). SEM and EDS analyses revealed that the distribution of sodium was much less than that of chlorine, indicating that the primary component of the solid powder is LiCl (Supplementary Fig. 19). ICP analysis showed that, among the cations in the solid powder, Li\u003csup\u003e+\u003c/sup\u003e accounted for 97.87 mol% and sodium ions for 2.13 mol%, demonstrating that the LiCl is of very high purity.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNext, we carried out the Li extraction experiments and optimized the parameters for this physical adsorption technology. We first explored the effect of the mass ratio of sorbents and mixed salts on adsorption performances at 40% RH, 30 °C, using LiCl/NaCl mixed salt with Li\u003csup\u003e+\u003c/sup\u003e of 3.33 mol% (Supplementary Fig. 20a and Extended Data 2). It observed that the sorbent-to-salt ratio did not affect the purity of lithium salt after extraction, which is around 96.6 mol%, indicating the high selectivity for this method. Additionally, as the sorbent-to-salt ratio reduced from of 1:20 to 1:200, the adsorption specific capacity per unit mass of the sorbent increased from 78.19 to 169.27 mg g\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e, which means more sorbent utilization. However, at the same time, the amount of sorbent was insufficient to adsorb lithium from the mixed salts at a low proportion of sorbent, leading to a decrease in recovery rate, dropping from 97.6% to 21.2%. The recovery rate refers to the proportion of extracted lithium salt relative to the total lithium in mixed salt to be extracted. As a result, a sorbent-to-salt wt. ratio of 5:200 simultaneously possessed high adsorption capacity and good recovery rate for the physical lithium extraction, which is chosen for the next experiments.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFurthermore, we investigated the lithium extraction performance of the sorbents under various ambient RH using 5:200 wt. ratio of sorbent spheres to mixed salt (Fig. 4a and Supplementary Fig. 21a and Extended Data 3). The results indicate that when the RH is between 25% and 40%, the adsorption capacity remains relatively stable at around 130 mg g\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e. This stability is due to the fact that as the humidity increases, both the concentration and viscosity of the deliquesced LiCl slightly decrease, which is a trade-off relationship for adsorption capacity. At the same time, the decrease in solution concentration weakens the ability of the LiCl solution to inhibit the dissolution of impurity salts (such as NaCl), leading to a slight decrease in purity, which was 97.87 mol%, 97.16 mol%, and 96.44 mol% at 25%, 30%, and 40% RH, respectively. However, as the humidity continued to increase to 70% RH, the adsorption capacity experienced a significant decline. At a 70% RH, the adsorption capacity dropped to 70.39 mg g\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e, and the purity also decreased sharply to 78.32 mol%. Therefore, considering both adsorption capacity and purity, 40% RH is optimal in this physical adsorption technology.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSubsequently, we investigated the effect of adsorption time on adsorption capacity and purity at 40% RH using 5:200 wt. ratio of mixed salt to sorbent spheres (Fig. 4b and Supplementary Fig. 21b and Extended Data 4). The results show that the adsorption capacity increased with time, reaching its peak at 133.60 mg g\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e after 3 hours with a fast lithium extraction rate of 44.53 mg g\u003csup\u003e-1\u0026nbsp;\u003c/sup\u003eh\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e. Afterward, the adsorption capacity slightly decreased and stabilized at around 121 mg g\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e from the 5th hour onward. Similarly, purity also decreased slightly over time, dropping from an initial 97.55 mol% to 95.11 mol%. This decline in purity is due to the sorbent's diminished ability to inhibit the dissolution of NaCl, which occurs alongside the continuous reduction in the concentration of the deliquescent solution over time. We fitted the adsorption data using pseudo-first-order (PFO) and pseudo-second-order (PSO) kinetic models (Fig. 4b and Extended Data 5). The results show that the PFO kinetic model fits the data better, indicating that the adsorption rate is primarily influenced by the number of available adsorption sites, suggesting that the process is dominated by physical adsorption.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdditionally, to determine the adsorption behavior of the sorbent in the solution and to identify whether the rate-determining step in the deliquescence adsorption process is the liquefaction of the salt or the adsorption by the sorbent. We immersed the composite sorbent in a LiCl solution with a Li\u003csup\u003e+\u003c/sup\u003e concentration of 8.5 M (corresponding to the deliquescence concentration at 40% RH) (Supplementary Fig. 22). The adsorption capacity of the composite sorbent exhibited an \"S\"-shaped curve. During the initial ~50 seconds, the adsorption rate increased continuously, corresponding to the process of the sorbent being wetted by the LiCl solution. From 50 to 150 seconds, a relatively stable adsorption rate was observed, which corresponds to the filling of the large radial pores inside the composite sorbent. From approximately 150 to 600 seconds, there was a slow increase in adsorption, corresponding to the filling of the small pores within the sorbent. After 600 seconds, the adsorption process reached equilibrium. It is noteworthy that the time required for the sorbent to reach equilibrium (10 minutes) is significantly shorter than the time required for salt deliquescence (3-4 hours) (Supplementary Fig. 23). Therefore, the rate-determining step in the entire humidity-controlled lithium extraction process is the deliquescence LiCl.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNext, the relationship between Li\u003csup\u003e+\u003c/sup\u003e adsorption capacity and LiCl concentration was studied using pure LiCl solution, which corresponds to the isothermal adsorption process (Supplementary Fig. 24). The results show that the adsorption process fits the Freundlich model very well, indicating that the adsorption process involves multilayer adsorption. We conducted infrared spectroscopy (IR) tests on the raw materials used for synthesizing the composite sorbent—polyacrylonitrile, chitosan—as well as on the composite sorbent before lithium extraction, water-immersed composite sorbent, and the composite sorbent after lithium extraction (Supplementary Fig. 25). The results showed that none of the peaks shifted after lithium extraction, indicating that there was no chemical interaction between the lithium ions and the composite sorbent. Combined with the Freundlich model results that suggest multilayer adsorption, this indicates that the adsorption process is physical adsorption. Simultaneously, we conducted a cycling performance test of the sorbent using a mixed salt of LiCl (with a lithium ion content of 3.33 mol%) and NaCl at 40% RH (Fig. 4c). The results showed that after 100 cycles, the adsorption capacity retained a high capacity of 104.70 mg g\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e, indicating good cycling performance (Extended Data 6). It can be observed that the appearance of the sorbent shows almost no change before and after the cycling process. (Supplementary Fig. 26a,b). The stable cycling performance is due to its physical process rather than chemical reaction.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFurthermore, we conducted lithium extraction tests under more practical conditions, with the testing environment set to 40% RH for 3 hours (Fig. 4d and Extended Data 7). Firstly, we attempted to separate Li from a Li, Na, and K salt mixture, for a LiCl\\NaCl\\KCl mixed salt with a Li\u003csup\u003e+\u003c/sup\u003e content of 3.72 mol%, the Li purity increased to 95.06 mol%. Next, in a simulated mixed salt resembling the composition of Taijinai’er salt lake, containing Li, Na, and K, the lithium ion purity increased from 1.69 mol% to 93.14 mol%. It should be noted that since the deliquescence humidity of MgCl\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e is 33%, it was necessary to lower the humidity to suppress the deliquescence of MgCl\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e for extracting Li from the mixed salts with Mg using this methods. Hence, when the humidity was reduced to 20% and lithium extraction was conducted for 10 hours, the lithium purity could be increased form 22.33 mol% to 95.41 mol% for the LiCl\\NaCl\\KCl\\MgCl\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e mixed salts. In a simulated Zabuye Salt Lake containing Li, Na, K, Mg, and Ca, the Li\u003csup\u003e+\u003c/sup\u003e purity increased from 1.92 mol% to 93.41 mol% after lithium extraction and the recovery rate was 95.41%. The adsorption rate was 28.17 mg g\u003csup\u003e-1\u0026nbsp;\u003c/sup\u003eh\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e, with an adsorption capacity of 84.51 mg g\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e. The Li/Na selectivity of 4662.08, Li/K selectivity of 137.42, Li/Mg selectivity of 1.52, and Li/Ca selectivity of 6.95 were achieved. We also prepared a simulated seawater mixed salt with a composition of LiCl and NaCl (0.0050 mol% Li\u003csup\u003e+\u003c/sup\u003e and 99.9950 mol% Na\u003csup\u003e+\u003c/sup\u003e), based on the proportions found in seawater. After lithium extraction using this physical adsorption technology, the lithium ion purity increased from 0.0050 mol% to 7.92 mol%, a 1584-fold increase, with Li/Na selectivity of 1733.85.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt the same time, we performed magnesium extraction from a crude salt (crude salt is dried from sea water, and the content of Mg\u003csup\u003e2+\u0026nbsp;\u003c/sup\u003eis 9.32 mol%) obtained by evaporating seawater, with the humidity controlled at 40% and an extraction time of 3 hours. The results showed that the magnesium ion purity increased from an initial 9.32 mol% to 65.42 mol%. When extracting Mg\u003csup\u003e2+\u003c/sup\u003e from a mixed salt with a composition similar to that of Taijinai'er Salt Lake (Na\u003csup\u003e+\u003c/sup\u003e: 70.12 mol%, K\u003csup\u003e+\u003c/sup\u003e: 5.55 mol%, Mg\u003csup\u003e2+\u003c/sup\u003e: 24.08 mol%, Ca\u003csup\u003e2+\u003c/sup\u003e:0.25 mol%), the Mg purity increased from 24.08 mol% to 88.73 mol%, demonstrating a good purification effect. These results indicate that by controlling the humidity within a specific range, we can selectively purify salts that have deliquescence points within that humidity range.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdditionally, this deliquescence purification can occur not only in water vapor but also in the vapors of other solvents such as ethanol and acetone (Fig. 4e and Supplementary movie 5 and Extended Data 8). Therefore, we conducted lithium extraction tests on LiNa and LiNaK mixed salts using ethanol vapor. The results showed that the lithium ion purity increased from 3.33 mol% and 3.72 mol% to 98.40 mol% and 98.36 mol%, respectively. This is a better result compared to the purification under 40% relative humidity (96.44 mol% and 95.06 mol%, respectively). The improved separation is due to the fact that impurity salts (NaCl and KCl) are less soluble in ethanol, leading to more effective separation. Additionally, the adsorption capacities for lithium extraction using ethanol were 62.74 mg g\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e and 49.52 mg g\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e, respectively, which are lower than the adsorption capacity for lithium extraction using water vapor (133.60 mg g\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e). This is because the solubility of LiCl in ethanol (5.73 mol kg\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e at 20 °C) is significantly lower than its solubility in water (19.82 mol kg\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e g at 20 °C). And, the adsorption rate was 20.91 mg g\u003csup\u003e-1\u0026nbsp;\u003c/sup\u003eh\u003csup\u003e-1\u0026nbsp;\u003c/sup\u003eusing ethanol vapor.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFinally, we compared our results with the most recent literatures on lithium extraction (Fig. 4f and Supplementary Table 1-4). In this work, within a mixed LiCl-NaCl salt of 3.33 mol% LiCl mol%, an extremely fast lithium extraction rate of 83.64 mg g\u003csup\u003e-1\u0026nbsp;\u003c/sup\u003eh\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e was achieved with an adsorption time of 1 hour and a high adsorption capacity of 83.64 mg g\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e. The optimal adsorption time of 3 hours resulted in an adsorption rate of 44.53 mg g\u003csup\u003e-1\u0026nbsp;\u003c/sup\u003eh\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e and an adsorption capacity of 133.60 mg g\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e. For the currently mainstream adsorbents, such as aluminum-based, manganese-based, and titanium-based adsorbents, the average adsorption rates and capacities are 2.16 mg g\u003csup\u003e-1\u0026nbsp;\u003c/sup\u003eh\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e and 6.32 mg g\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e, 1.40 mg g\u003csup\u003e-1\u0026nbsp;\u003c/sup\u003eh\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e and 34.11 mg g\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e, and 1.91 mg g\u003csup\u003e-1\u0026nbsp;\u003c/sup\u003eh\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e and 34.36 mg g\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e, respectively. In comparison, the deliquescence adsorption method shows a significant improvement by 4-62 times. Moreover, compared to electrochemical adsorption, which has a high adsorption capacity (averaging ~22.31 mg g\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e) and fast kinetics (averaging ~10.59 mg g\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e h\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e), our technology also demonstrates significant advantages. Moreover, compared to other methods, the chemicals used in this humidity-controlled lithium extraction technology using water vapor are eco-friendly, energy-efficient, and cost-effective. In the laboratory, the energy consumption for lithium extraction comes from gas output, and it is estimated that the energy consumption is 0.077 kWh kg\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e Li, making it an energy-efficient method\u003csup\u003e27-41\u003c/sup\u003e (Fig. 4g). The raw material cost for existing lithium extraction methods is over 2000 USD ton\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e of lithium carbonate (LCE) \u003csup\u003e34\u003c/sup\u003e, while the humidity-controlled lithium extraction technique only costs 81.89 USD (Fig. 4h).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLast, we systematically investigated the mechanism behind deliquescence separation and purification, using the LiCl-NaCl binary salt system as an example (Fig. 5a and Extended Data 9). From the phase diagram, we can observe that the boundaries between the blue region and the sodium chloride saturation region (orange area) and between the blue region and the LiCl saturation region (the area indicated by the arrow) represent the solubility curves of the salt. Additionally, because LiCl has a very high solubility, the region where hydrated LiCl and the liquid phase coexist (the area indicated by the arrow) is very small. Typically, most phase diagrams focus on displaying the transitions between solid and liquid phases at atmospheric pressure (or under a fixed pressure). Furthermore, it is essential to represent the phase diagram in terms of the water vapor partial pressure (or relative humidity) to accurately depict the relevant phase behavior (Fig. 5b). In practice, measuring the water vapor partial pressure of a system is quite challenging and requires sophisticated instruments, especially for a complete phase diagram. Therefore, we used an ideal theoretical model based on Raoult's law, combined with empirical formulas for the saturation vapor pressures of LiCl and sodium chloride solutions, to qualitatively calculate the three-dimensional phase diagram of LiCl, sodium chloride, water, and relative humidity. From Fig. 5B, we can observe that when the salt concentration is zero, the water vapor partial pressure corresponds to the saturation vapor pressure of water, which aligns with 100% relative humidity. In a LiCl solution, as the concentration of LiCl increases, the relative humidity decreases continuously, stabilizing at around 11% once the solution reaches saturation. After this point, adding more solid LiCl does not change the composition of the solution, and therefore, the relative humidity remains constant. The same phenomenon occurs in NaCl solution, where the relative humidity stabilizes at 75% for saturated NaCl solution. Along the solubility line, there is a \"ridge\" in the relative humidity, meaning that adding LiCl to a saturated NaCl solution, or adding NaCl to a saturated LiCl solution, causes the vapor pressure to first increase and then decrease. Taking the addition of LiCl to a saturated NaCl solution as an example: according to the phase diagram, when LiCl is added to a saturated NaCl solution, a small amount of LiCl can precipitate more NaCl. This means that the reduction of NaCl decreases its inhibitory effect on water evaporation, leading to an increase in the vapor pressure of the solution. Since the added LiCl is present in a small quantity, its inhibitory effect on water evaporation cannot compensate for the impact caused by the reduction of NaCl. As a result, the vapor pressure/RH of the solution increases. In the region where both LiCl and NaCl are saturated, the vapor pressure remains around 11%, because the solution composition no longer changes with the addition of any solid, hence the relative humidity stays constant.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdditionally, by projecting the three-dimensional phase diagram onto the z-axis, we can obtain a phase diagram of LiCl, NaCl, and water that includes information about humidity. This projection provides a clearer understanding of how relative humidity interacts with the solubility of these salts in water (Fig. 5c). For our experimental system, the initial composition was a mixed salt of 2.4 wt.% LiCl (Li\u003csup\u003e+\u003c/sup\u003e: 3.33 mol%) and 97.6 wt.% NaCl, which corresponds to the gray point on the phase diagram. When water vapor with 40% RH is introduced, the point representing the system on the phase diagram moves along a direction passing through the origin (indicated by the blue dashed line) until it reaches the equilibrium point on the 40% relative humidity contour (the blue point). Since the composite sorbent absorb liquid, the liquid corresponds to the point on the solubility curve where the equilibrium RH is 40%—represented by the pink point. From the phase diagram, it can be observed that at this stage, the solution is composed of a very concentrated LiCl solution with only a small amount of sodium chloride. We then compared the lithium extraction purity obtained at different relative humidities with the theoretically calculated purity (Fig. 5d). The overall trend shows good agreement, supporting the validity of our theoretical model.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe humidity-controlled ion separating method offers an efficient approach to extract lithium and magnesium from solid mixed salts derived from\u0026nbsp;ore/brine\u0026nbsp;using water vapor\u0026nbsp;through physical processes.\u0026nbsp;We systematically studied the effects of humidity, adsorption time, and solvent vapor types on the lithium and magnesium extraction performances. This method indicated an extremely high lithium capacity of\u0026nbsp;133.60 mg g\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e, a significant improvement by 4-62 times compared to conventional lithium sieves.\u0026nbsp;Meanwhile, the lithium extraction rate surpassed almost all existing methods.\u0026nbsp;Additionally,\u0026nbsp;a good stability was achieved, showing 78.37% capacity retention for 100 cycles. Importantly, material costs (81.89 USD ton\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e of lithium carbonate) and energy consumption (0.077\u0026nbsp;kWh kg\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e Li) have also been significantly reduced.\u0026nbsp;Building on this, we hypothesize that this method could also be used to extract other elements such as cesium,\u0026nbsp;thorium, zirconium, and yttrium. Moreover, considering the Moon\u0026apos;s environment, where the lunar soil samples returned by China\u0026apos;s Chang\u0026apos;e-5\u0026nbsp;mission have confirmed the presence of water\u003csup\u003e43\u003c/sup\u003e, but the environment does not meet the high water demands of traditional mining methods, using water vapor could significantly conserve water, making lunar mining more feasible. Overall, this work provides a fast, low-cost, and environmentally sustainable approach to purify a wide range of cations.\u003c/p\u003e\n"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eData availability\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll data are presented in the article and its Supplementary Information. Source data are provided with this paper.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAcknowledgements\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52222311) and Double First-Class Initiative Fund of ShanghaiTech University. The microscopy experiments were supported by the Center for High-resolution Electron Microscopy (CћEM) at ShanghaiTech University.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor contributions\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eW.L. supervised the study.\u0026nbsp;W.L., J.L. and X.C.\u0026nbsp;conceptualization\u0026nbsp;and designed this project. W.L. and J.L. completed the design of the installation. J.L., Y.Z., J.F., X.Z., N.X., Y.Y., T.G., R.W., J.Y., X.H. and Y.Z. completed the characterization of this work. J.L. completed the machine learning section. 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Phase equilibria in system LiCl\u0026ndash;NaCl\u0026ndash;H 2 O at 308 and 348 K. \u003cem\u003eRussian Journal of Physical Chemistry A\u003c/em\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e90\u003c/strong\u003e, 2532-2537 (2016).\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJin, S.\u003cem\u003e et al.\u003c/em\u003e Evidence of a hydrated mineral enriched in water and ammonium molecules in the Chang\u0026rsquo;e-5 lunar sample. \u003cem\u003eNature Astronomy\u003c/em\u003e, doi:10.1038/s41550-024-02306-8 (2024).\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e"},{"header":"Methods","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePreparation of Polyacrylonitrile-Chitosan Composite Sorbents\u003c/strong\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMix polyacrylonitrile (PAN), chitosan (CS), and N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) in a ratio of 2 g: 1 g: 20 ml and stir thoroughly for 6 hours to ensure that PAN is fully dissolved in DMF, forming a suspension containing CS. Then, use a dropper to slowly drop the suspension into 200 ml of ultrapure water to form sorbent, maintaining a height of 13 cm between the dropper outlet and the water surface. Subsequently, wash the sorbents three times with 400ml of ultrapure water and twice with 200ml of ethanol. Finally, dry the beads under vacuum at room temperature to obtain dried sorbents.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHumidity Control\u003c/strong\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePass air through different concentrations of salt solutions to achieve the desired humidity. For example, to obtain air with a RH of 40%, start by adding 300 ml of saturated CH\u003csub\u003e3\u003c/sub\u003eCOOK solution into a 1L gas-washing bottle. Then, pass air through the bottle at a rate of 3 L min\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e (flow speed is approximately 2.3 cm s\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e) and use a hygrometer to measure the humidity at the outlet. Initially, the outlet humidity will be lower than 40% (since the equilibrium relative humidity (ERH) of saturated potassium acetate solution is around 26% at 25\u0026deg;C). Next, slowly add ultrapure water into the gas-washing bottle while continuously monitoring the outlet humidity. Keep the system running for one hour, ensuring the humidity remains stable. As water is added to the bottle, the concentration of CH\u003csub\u003e3\u003c/sub\u003eCOOK decreases, which increases the ERH. Continue this process until the outlet RH stabilizes at 40%, at which point the specific humidity control is achieved.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003cstrong\u003eLithium extraction procedure\u003c/strong\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMix the sorbent with the mixed salt in a mass ratio of 1:20, and place the mixture into a chromatography column (used as an adsorption column) that is 30 cm long with an outer diameter of 50 mm and equipped with a sintered glass filter. Use a glass rod to thoroughly stir and mix the sorbents with the mixed salt. Then, introduce humid air of specific humidity into the adsorption column (flow speed is 2 L min\u003csup\u003e-1\u003c/sup\u003e) to ensure sufficient deliquescence and adsorption of LiCl,\u003cstrong\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003etemperature maintained at 28\u0026nbsp;\u0026deg;C. Stir the mixture with a glass rod for 1 minute every hour to promote more thorough adsorption by the\u0026nbsp;sorbents. After the adsorption process is complete, use an 18-mesh screen to separate the\u0026nbsp;sorbents from the impurity salts, and purge the\u0026nbsp;sorbents\u0026nbsp;with nitrogen gas\u0026nbsp;(The aim is to remove the impurities salt that stick to the surface). Finally, add the\u0026nbsp;sorbents\u0026nbsp;to 1000 ml of ultrapure water and let them stabilize for 12 hours to recover the LiCl.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003cstrong\u003eSolution Ion Concentration Analysis\u003c/strong\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the experiments, the concentration of all ions in the solution was measured using an Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometer (ICP-OES). Specifically, the concentrations of Li⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, Mg\u0026sup2;⁺, and Ca\u0026sup2;⁺ in all samples were measured using a Thermo Scientific ICP-OES iCAP 7400. To prevent dilution-related errors, multiple samples with varying dilution ratios were tested for each measurement.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAdsorption capacity, lithium recovery, and selectivity\u003c/strong\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter lithium extraction, to ensure the Li\u003csup\u003e+\u003c/sup\u003e are fully leached out, the sorbents are placed in 1000 ml of ultrapure water and left to stand for 12 hours. Subsequently, different dilutions of the sample are measured using ICP to avoid errors caused by dilution. The lithium adsorption capacity is calculated as the total mass of Li\u003csup\u003e+\u003c/sup\u003e leached into the solution divided by the weight of the sorbent (Equation (1)), as follows:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg 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\"\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe recovery is determined by dividing the total mass of Li in the solution by the total mass of Li in the solid mixed salt (Equation (2)).\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAecAAAAqCAYAAACJDJOKAAAAAXNSR0IArs4c6QAAAARnQU1BAACxjwv8YQUAAAAJcEhZcwAADsMAAA7DAcdvqGQAABTSSURBVHhe7Z1brF3DH8eXvqNuL/yJa1LRpm4HQRskWkLiRVKaSnjQKp6ouxe0UncPFA94kLSUhKbuEpJW3e+XkCjxgBf3yyvnvz5z1vf0t39nZu11etqe3Z7fJ5nsPbN+M/ObWXvPb25r1m7DNVUQBEEQBAPDtOYzCIIgCIIBIYxzEOzEfPfdd9W0adOqF198sQnJ8+STTya5X3/9tQmZPKQz7pFHHmlCtx1HHHFEdfPNNze+INg5CeMcBAPKPvvsM2rE7rzzzia0l6+//rpiZeqAAw5oQvJ8/vnn1fTp01Oak82hhx5arV+/Pul90kknNaHbBjofmzdvrg488MAmJAh2TmLNOQgGlI0bN1Zz586tFixYkEa+JfgL77bbbo0vj/7m/eR2FIz0Fy1aVP32229NyPi48MILq2OOOaa69tprm5AtdKmPIBh0YuQcBAOKDMyVV16ZPkt0MUTIDJLB2rRpU3XCCSc0vvHx5ptvps7KzJkzm5BewjAHuwJhnINgQPnyyy/T56mnnpo+PaytMuXdtr5q13e1Lv3pp59WZ599dgrD0Fn/FVdckWTaID875U5cC3mSjr3u17pfffXV6owzzmh8VZq2J01vsMnLhpEWswlw7rnn9uisPHNGH2Ou+iIfOxNBvXCNcPSUH9m2GYsg2K4wrR0EweCxYMGC4fnz5ze+sfz888/MVQ+/8MILTUie559/Psn98ssvyX/BBRekuMcff/zwjTfeOHzWWWclP9/7NQkPP/zw8F577TW8efPm4f/++294w4YNKR3x7bffDu+9997DS5cuTWniDjvssJSnhXw2btyYvq9ZsyY56WkhbdIS5Lly5cqUJt/ldE1lstx0001JJ3RFhjLUo+vhTz75JOkrXcn7jjvuSH6l1Vb/QbA9iZFzEAwofnTp+fHHH9PnjBkz0meJH374oaqN2ehmsNWrV1f77rtvVRumlMcTTzyR/HvuuWdVG94k049//vknTR/PmTOneu+995rQqqoNYUrjwQcfTGniFi9eXL3yyiuNxMi0NBx55JHpszbcyaGnzZ9R7AcffDA6UgbyfOONN6p58+al73K6RplmzZqV/MCswIoVK6oHHngg6YrMkiVL0rr0O++8kzanoavq8vvvv09+5KgvNtEFwWQQxjkIBhCMyu+//16dfPLJTchYMC4YXQxMGzJmAsPD1DPpX3311cmAAobJyuU4//zzkwybsZhyxoDKOPKdaeBrrrlmNAw++uijpKd46623qnpUOtpZEOiJkRZfffVV+vTT1Bj62bNnN74tqM6s/Nq1a5PBZwOZQA60oxtdldeyZctGdWfX9+mnn56+B8GOJoxzEAwgGF4orTeDN7olGB3b0SdotGuNIXL9jBEGdc2aNelRqFWrVvVsVpOBO+qoo9KnYPQ7NDTU+Krq9ddf7/ELrycjfN/5kGHNPYKV66x8+OGHY4y79LQzDhs2bKjmz58/GpfOC6Pwbf2oVxB0JYxzEAwgGF6MhYXpYDsCxJjlRpAWjSY1hSwwRoxeBXL9jBGbttCBkeU555yTpn9zG6ZsXmyuIt2FCxc2IfmRr/T83//+N+onbasjqNOSKzd15uXhuOOOa76NcO+99/YYYqAurdxrr72WRtz96jcIthdhnINgAMFY2PVmRnKXXHJJddpppzUhVTJmTM1ixEq7iv/+++/0idFjNzPpAOnbUXdJzsL0NAaZ6WvcunXreqar999///T56KOPpk8M+UUXXVQtXbp0zAyA11v5//XXX8kwr1y5Mo14SR8/U+jw559/pk/yJ33t1IY//vhjjDwG+KmnnkrlIQ7yTFeTvtAo+ZRTTmlCRvIhLeLYDlEQ7DBG9oUFQTAoXH755WnncD1C7XGE1UakkRrZycwuZHYYl0C+HgEOH3744aO7utm1TVp2l3dOzsMuZ/KUPuwm//jjj5urI6xevTrtpOY6aaGbdlML6U16Ap2UtnZPExc98WunOXoqfXaZs+NaaLe5lScd9GzTmfIST3FAYT6PINhRxAlhQTBgtP0lawPTfNsiZ8Ny5OQI8/G6pOd1y8lambbrpfxB13KypfS7hIPPF5Dx4bm8g0Aw43LPPfek5Y/ly5c3oe1wlvxnn32WNmLaZZUcE5rWZkqKB/WZ+ukCsrh+h90z9ZQ7SCAYXPgtcM9y06HjgXvP2mbX39SuCMag5Cy5sByluJ4u6UmmTbbrdU8uXk42Jwddwv01kQtvkw+mNiydsG+BJY/bbrutCe0Pj/ERh7ik0UbWOBNJhhSn5xI94z1Mv+th9+wk7derCAYHDCobjNj8o/tGB4zfBS730gaMONe8Med5VJ63zZ0qFQRBMNnQLrEf5LHHHkt7KWwHTps2aduwnZw0p5P5BHGefvrplEbrYKY2llk4hYfLDz30UBMyFtaS/HoSsJ6k038shLGu1Y9SusHgwbpg3QvsuV+s0bEuyHof63v8Hvy6HWt5bWulrEcODQ01viAIgsGAPSG0eR7sW22oR/dM4LSPwu4VEcjhShSntdUbuOyyy9JnDmRsrwEYJfGmGf/oBnD4QJfp6ly6weBBr+/6669PO2Pt/eJRGd6kxOEWRx99dHqm1Z4QRU/ym2++yb5RSDD9w++otAs5CIJgMuA5/4svvrjx9cJM8q233jp6Ot4tt9ySZot/+umnRmILnA1fD36LM4RF48xjE8yL56BR1pS3HbLjp7GG/fbbL/lt48rhAwzliaOD5m18rWHjpDBT7DqU38py3YYxndB2eD1hTL/ip4NQqhArp7VP+f0jFVxXHnz6NQTqibia4uDTyqCzyobT4x+C9ImDDKALMiXZnC62rolv6wUZwqQDaQi+K60SPAvKNHbuoAympnOQH4/XPP74401IGQw8z6QGQRAMArTZ/hQ6QTtI+6YT92CPPfZovo3lxBNPTJ/vvvtu+hzDyAB6LEw/t007+sP0galNhvsM1XNT08hzjSlLrjHk99MDPA5BuODAfE0PWH30qAPTBThNJRDGQfc+D6YimFqV3rlpdyAuctKDeKSP3+ZPONO1HKZPvkzj2ikK4nBdekk3gf71aHNUT6Z/ua7HS7iOjuSppQDC0I0lB1tvJV18vSBH+lYX/OSNHGlYKL8tk0f32oPONhw5lYv6bUvTontsf2M5qMcurnTPgyAIukA7ZtvxftDWWXvmIa2Snc3mggEgUltjhpIYAQ/xeMOMh7S4Zt8Yk2vceQ7RhsnAY6DUwAPp2PyRk97eMBDGNZAe8nuUH3qQJwYOFA6UjzTs85LcAFs2dEA/G89+l+G2oCv5WpAh3EI+qot+uth6sfpZXcB2dgT6W7+n1IGjjlV3OH1HD77TOUBv6gCjicHOoXvV9jsEytLFBUEQTATaO9qkLtCm0t7ZttlDWuMyzl16B96IQpvhI00UtaMg/N6Q58JkXKyhyBl2GSoaf+FHf8iQRz8wTNaYWdioJCOKboxISVP6UUb08OUQMoS+nkjD50k5fRhlUj320wVUL20jUOSRkSHE7zsFHuRLPyx0xvBigDmYAtCV3wF6EM6PViP9XF11Nc4TxY6uw4XbGVwwOXQ1zrTFHMLTZpihrQ3N5kJj369hzhlRGeAcpCkjAjmDmwsD0rWjZBkSn78fZcpIYgwFMlaPHN5QebiG40+CwSFN3m8rZFR8OUTuBpfKRJi9edSFleE6rqQL+Hopwb1TXhhXn47H62bxI1b0lg7Uj9WHNNDR09U420arzZXSsbqGC7czuGByoB2jTWqjq2GGtjY0uyHMn+sLbBDS4SFsJModps/B86Xd2KR57LHHNr78G2QIqw3EmGecSbcubOOrqrvvvjt9+vz94fVaaNfCO7A5rN+bd/TGntxGJ8Fzvf/++2/Kg/OGKYun7VntevTbfBuB84gp+5lnntmEbEGvDWQzAnVv3yQE/XTJ3c8c3DvOFNazd7kyWdC3RG0MRx2bJGpj33Oesaf1eb8+UPYurnQ/ra7hwu0MLpgc9MY1u7HXQlvHa1Xvv//+9KQK0G7bzbYCWZg5c2b69IwxzjK89j2yJM4ubB0eUjokn4PnlSGGXMac6z5NGVyuaedx6bB5my75HXzwwem7zR9Xjz57Dq//4osvUnrsVBZdXhaAsfPG04JRevnll9OfhMd9OFgfPcTuu++ePpU+dcqOaNXTQQcdlF6jR70C9XT77bcnw2p1tT8AZHiFHjKWfrqoXko/AAsGnFfs0fm56qqrmtAyGHN29feD1wrySJ5+rKD7Kfybg4CXIEDusTyLbbTaXBAEwUSgg0+bq9eOemjrLr300vTWNvHSSy8133rJDR57aEbQCaZWORyC4Lox63G1kWukRuRqBccckq8FcOSZptQaJ9OwpGnXPLXuSn4Kt2FMDQjFV37I+/wV1+bB1Kmfwma9lvXO0lQCIOPXeS3siqY+KCdpUVbqxEJ8riHDjnM/pWqvkx+7yHOonEyn5Kaz+umSq5cS1DP5+an1En65IQflJk2bP/qhE/eYcNLI5UkdUTdTFe67fj8ThTonLf1fSnAfkOvye9mesHeCZZqtgXorbTIcZCiz/sfB4FJaJtQyHPfQOsJy9oZ0cCXGTJ77tQ3rLLkwaJP3lOS6yObkcv4uYZ7xyJRkJ3pd9LsONp2cbL/4goa733q8RUa2bU2YhjLX8WCTmDonpY5QyWhvDzCA/k/l3Y5Gj7zRCWrD6k7HNoc6abbTm4N7QWdqsqFTNp7foqBT0aXOBhH+p1tb7mDHwf+S/0iu3bPtsHUeDVr8oM7SvrIdTBlo1GgU7E73LvDMdckgQO6HKdp+vPQ0d+SomY4AvVh0YTaCBp5P/JRxa3TBQLTVTT9kaPoZVHREjjK03b9cPXuQ6SK3vZmIHoOg/9bC78x3LLj/k9E5DMqw2YuBR9vApARxiNtvw1jxhLBgaqDT0hYtWlTdcMMNPafbdOG6666rDjnkkLTO7deRoW5Umm9j4ZqchfV1DoYvrdVsa6Q36/no8vbbbyf/nDlzkp99DPPmzUthXWGt/6677urZBDletCY1e/bs9FlC9bd48eLW++frOQcyXeS2NxPRYxD03xr4HbIXRZuOgDA2Uub2ZASTB/tn2OvDPiB/WmMb2jtEXLsHJ0tjpIMpiKalGd112fZfgpEK08+sEbZN03SBdTdGzeMdwU8UO9piPcmvKfnRGL1f6q02BMnZNU70J4y6xfGdnrKF+NSXruVG2Uwx59a2PIysyKfUiyd9r6NHa9I4rUszctc6KGWyfnTHn4Nw8mqLRx7Syy5daM0bZ9OnjCyD4PQbQxa/4ts8BPkjo7qVH1eakeBeSDfiEYe026C8pCnd/b1EZy0/IEeavg619CC4n8jb3xFuov+xYNtBuzDemZqu8mGcpzhb8+MqsS3S2Va6TAQaQhrPEjSiNJI04uhLx4Y4djpSU+M8K+7rOBcfv197xzC36SFIh7xKaO1aRreEP5IXg4MBUycB44J/PEfgEg/DhkFRPK5TLsrONK7vgBDPLyOw5KC1PspL3lqGEEpP9YjRxilf8sSv+sjVLWEYT+KQHnlxb9QByIEMeulec++t/pSdNFUGHEsQvozk7euC9NCVPRp8xwVTgzDOQWCg0W8zPKCG1kKjajfy0NDSAOdgVObjk6c3AIT1M6hAvr5Rt2AoSavfiAsjY3WWISB9jI9Gmqoj+T394tl68vUG+H392DSJw8g0Z6jIz9ejjCefAj2sH6gfdZpEv7KC0rcyVjfKQr3aMMqQ+w35Dpryj9Hy1COMcxAYMKo0hiU09egbaxpn27DmjA4ovm1sScuHqVG2054lyDs3ChQYj1JHwZIzikBcG47xI89+EM/WicpuT55DxhtJ0i6NVJH1aYhcPYKMo+A6cv4eoqsvlwxvG9wj6g7DzqyAvWd8Jy9fnlwZkfOdMe5rl7oOdj1iQ1gQGHitaW1YG99YONgG7CYtNn9xuM2sWbOakJFT5nIn0RG/bmx7To/jXde18egJ493nhNlDaXLkDg3ycOBPlw1tnCQ3d+7cxjeCDrFZuHBhEzJySE+/9BRPrzuFTZs2pcN9KBdIRocbgcpTOmmQg4qgNoTp05I7dRAoF5vlBPeGe+A32nEAj8/32WefLeoiuEe1oa3Wr19frVq1Kh1EIXRYhT1IJ/faQR1INGPGjPQpOORnvJsRg12DMM5BYMBQ9jvqFANj8UevysDYXbcW2ygjW4+OxjTAdBJ8PjkwSGCPJmWHr30PN8ap345v6exPY9NRtjZ8PEfg2njoYcvJ+8C9kSwd4QsYMBlnpW+hE+LrTB0Ae0Lec88918ng8e7zfr8HjmVELzoLnArFjv/cyYMqI/eG0/dynbFcuamziez4D3ZewjgHQYOOm22jy9GrOt6W40cxDhxFq8e1gAYfP9fWrl1bDQ0NpYaZNO0ZvDTgGM22RzUwSHakT7qM3OyjNxjdfkfWlo7kZZSMwdvaI3BtPOrNzi7kjustHeFLPaxYsaJavnx5Ki8G1tcNx/z6OpMRt0ck5uRg+vTp1ebNm1Pe3AvNcnDPSzCy5d4TB7du3bqUtgdDz/X77rsvdeJIlzq2R+3myk1dUyeEo6t+d8EUoJneDoIpDWu8rBnyl+ATfwnWJtkUhlxtgNLOXg9rzlxn85ddR2QNkjhcYy0UP+mRL59ar8yFeVizREY6y+G365nkh75t69Ksw9YGY4y+xEUHS5f0fLzcxiqtQbO5S+G5MHTisSN2OYOVsXWjOlO9KgxdLDk5ID/qQGXDjxx1U4I1adJX3bP27B9LJB+uqUxWf6Vtw+x6OgfgEC6dgqlDOnamvvlBMOWxf4W6MW2+jcX/ZXKybWn5aznZrdVF2DiSaUsHcnJdwzyleD5Ol/S7yIDCoEtcIJxRKYfwMALmQB2FMyvCwTy8UKYNmx7YvGC8epXi+/Bg1yamtYOggcZPrg0rV5Jtu+6veT/kwnJYOessubAcXePmwjyleJ6SnA3rIgMKs+Fd5J555pmqHkGn9V6FY7A54e0C93rWHDY9nCd3LSebC4NSeLBrE8Y5CIIpD5vGtJ7LWjDr9oyYly1blsKCYEcTxjkIginNkiVLqqVLl1bnnXdeNW3atPSeeaaS33///eyu8SDY/lTV/wEnpmCmgIBRpAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==\"\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSelectivity is calculated by dividing the percentage of Li/M in the post-extraction solution by the percentage of Li/M in the solid salt (Equation (3)), where M represents Li, Na, K, Mg, and Ca.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"data:image/png;base64,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\"\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe sorbent utilization is calculated by dividing the amount of lithium absorbed by the sorbent in the solid salt by the absorption capacity of the sorbent in LiCl deliquescent solution at the corresponding humidity.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg 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However, existing extraction methods, often associated with environmental risks, are lack of selectivity, time-consuming, and high cost. Here, we report a high-capacity sorbent made of polyacrylonitrile-chitosan composite spheres, capable of selectively adsorbing alkali or alkaline earth metal salts through controlled humidity levels, leveraging their distinct deliquescent humidity ranges. For lithium extraction specifically, this method demonstrates an extremely high adsorption capacity of 133.60 mg g-1, far above all existing adsorbents and sieves. Moreover, a rapid adsorption rate of 83.64 mg g-1 h-1 is achieved, with a high selectivity and a recovery rate. Crucially, this approach is heralded for its environmental friendliness, cost-efficiency, and low energy consumption.","manuscriptTitle":"Humidity-Controlled Sorbents for Efficient Cation Separation","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-03-18 09:19:09","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5235953/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-communications","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"NCOMMS","sideBox":"Learn more about [Nature Communications](http://www.nature.com/ncomms/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://mts-ncomms.nature.com/","title":"Nature Communications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Nature Communications","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"f5a31980-5330-4d9e-a317-28364a420f9c","owner":[],"postedDate":"March 18th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[{"id":43371778,"name":"Physical sciences/Materials science/Techniques and instrumentation/Design, synthesis and processing"},{"id":43371779,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences/Environmental impact"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-11-27T08:05:59+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-5235953","link":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-65607-0","journal":{"identity":"nature-communications","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Nature Communications"},"publishedOn":"2025-11-26 05:00:00","publishedOnDateReadable":"November 26th, 2025"},"versionCreatedAt":"2025-03-18 09:19:09","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1038/s41467-025-65607-0","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-65607-0","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-5235953","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-5235953","identity":"rs-5235953","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}