Qian Guan, Xu Wu, Yue Zheng, Yilei Fang, Mengyu Tang, Xin Yu, Ranwen Ou, Huanting Wang

Matter

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matt.2025.102635

Published: April 1, 2026

Summary

Regulating the cavity dimension of crown compounds changes its cation uptake ratio and release efficiency, whereas light-responsive triggers may endow the adsorbent with green regeneration functions. Here, we report a cyclen-azobenzene covalent network (C-azobenzene-4,4′-dicarbonyl dichloride [C-ADC]) supported on graphene oxide (GO) as a light-regenerable lithium-selective adsorbent for sustainable lithium extraction. Under room lighting, C-ADC@GO demonstrated a high adsorption loading of up to 15.27 mmol g−1 and an adsorption rate of 36.58 mmol g−1 h−1. Under UV light irradiation, cyclen’s cavity is expanded by the pulling of cis-azobenzene, releasing the adsorbed ions within 6 min. The relevant Li+/Mg2+ and Li+/Na+ selectivities reach 11.44 and 31.26. It could extract and purify lithium in synthetic Atacama salt-lake brine from 2.5% to 91.2%. A low energy consumption of 8.84 kWh per ton of Li2CO3 is estimated. This work pioneers a new approach for designing next-generation adsorption materials for energy-efficient and sustainable ion extraction and purification.