The surge in production of new energy vehicles and energy storage devices has led to a robust demand for lithium. But for now, lithium is mainly sourced from hard rock ores, such as spodumene, or from natural brines, both of which involve energy-intensive and environmentally costly processes.

A study published on Friday in the peer-reviewed journal Science presents a novel seawater lithium extraction technique using solar energy.

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Led by Zhu Jia, of Nanjing University, and Mi Baoxia, from the University of California, Berkeley, the research team proposed a solar transpiration-powered lithium extraction and storage (STLES) device that uses sunlight to extract and store lithium from brine.