Overview
- The research team published their results in the Journal of the American Chemical Society on Oct. 28, 2026, reporting lab experiments and molecular simulations of the new channels.
- The channels are synthetic pores built from ring-shaped pillar[5]arene molecules with engineered chemical 'handles' at the entrance that help lithium shed part of its water shell to enter the pore.
- The study gives conservative lower-limit selectivity estimates of Li+/Na+ ≥ 94, Li+/K+ ≥ 136 and Li+/Mg2+ ≥ 286 and reports overall selectivity two to five times higher than other recent artificial lithium transporters.
- The work is a bench-scale proof of concept that lacks membrane-scale assembly, validated performance in complex real brines or recycled-battery solutions, and published data on recovery rates, energy use, or costs.
- If the channels can be packed into robust, high-flux membranes and keep their selectivity in real feeds, the approach could speed and clean up direct lithium extraction and battery recycling and reduce reliance on harsh solvents.