In the race to meet the growing global demand for lithium — a critical component in batteries for electric vehicles — a team of researchers from Rice University’s Elimelech lab has developed a breakthrough lithium extraction method that could reshape the industry. In their study published in Science Advances, the researchers demonstrated near-perfect lithium selectivity by repurposing solid-state electrolytes (SSEs) as membrane materials for aqueous lithium extraction. While originally designed for the rapid conduction of lithium ions in solid-state batteries — where there are no other ions or liquid solvents — the highly ordered and confined structure of SSEs was found to enable unprecedented separation of both ions and water in aqueous mixtures.