Multilayered ion-imprinted membranes with high selectivity towards Li+ based on the synergistic effect of 12-crown-4 and polyether sulfone

High-selective multilayered Li+-imprinted membranes (Li-IIMs) with enhanced hydrophilicity and stability were developed based on polyether sulfone substrate membranes. The multilayered structure was prepared with polydopamine (pDA) as the interfacial adhesion layer, SiO2 nanoparticles as the hydrophilic layer and Li+-imprinted polymers as the imprinted layer. The selective Li+-recognition sites were formed using 12-crown-4 (12C4) as the adsorbing units. The optimal relative selectivity coefficients (alpha) of Li+/Na+ and Li+/K+ reached up to 1.85 and 2.07 with the imprinting factor (beta) of 2.51, and the high permselectivity factors (gamma) of Na+/Li+ (7.39) and K+/Li+ (9.86) were achieved on Li-IIMs. The Langmuir isotherm model and the pseudo-second-order kinetics model best fitted the rebinding data of Li-IIMs, as well as the rebinding capacities reached up to 90.3% of initial binding after 5 cycles of adsorption/desorption and just declined to 88.1% after another 5 cycles a month later. Therefore, the as-prepared Li-IIMs would have potential applications for the separation of lithium ions from salt lake brines. (C) 2017 Published by Elsevier B.V.