DuPont announced that FilmTec LiNE-XD nanofiltration membrane elements, the company’s first offering dedicated to lithium brine purification, was named a finalist in the 2024 Edison Awards in the Resource Recovery & Environmental Conservation category.

Lithium brine purification is critical to producing batteries needed for electrification. FilmTec LiNE-XD elements can help enable lithium production from resources such as salt lake brine, geothermal brine, and surface and sub-surface clay. FilmTec LiNE-XD nanofiltration membrane elements are designed to withstand harsh conditions while also yielding high recovery of both lithium and water—requiring less energy than other methods.

The durability, selectivity and permeability of FilmTec LiNE-XD nanofiltration membrane elements can help enable lithium mining operations, including emerging applications such as direct lithium extraction (DLE), to help enhance lithium yield, reduce energy consumption and increase membrane lifetime compared to conventional nanofiltration membranes.

DuPont FilmTec

Additionally, cleaning, chemical usage and disposal can be reduced in downstream lithium concentration thanks to its efficient removal of scaling impurities.

The Edison Awards is an annual competition honoring excellence in new product and service development, marketing, human-centered design, and innovation. The gold, silver and bronze winners will be announced at the 2024 Edison Awards Gala in Fort Myers, Florida, on 18 April 2024.

The two other finalists in the Resource Recovery & Environmental Conservation category are:

• Corning ATG by Corning Incorporated. Corning ATG can be inserted in the middle of a traditional double pane window cavity, turning it into a thin triple pane window with up to 30% better insulating performance in the footprint of a standard double pane window along with significant acoustic performance improvements. ATG also improves optics, storm protection, and home security.

• PARALOID Additives to upcycle polyvinyl butyral recovered from recycled car windshield by Dow Plastics Additives. Adhesive in nature, PVB tends to adhere to many surfaces making it difficult to recycle. Modification with PARALOID Additives both prevents the PVB recovered from car windshields from sticking AND enhances the PVB’s poor rigidity and indentation properties to support its upcycling in applications including vinyl flooring and carpet backing.

DuPont’s water technologies help purify more than 50 million gallons of water every minute around the world, enable water reuse and recycling, desalination, and the safe access of both ground and surface water. DuPont offers solutions to a variety of water and sustainability challenges faced by industrial water users and water treatment municipalities through a broad portfolio of membranes, resins and systems (including reverse osmosis (RO) membranes, ion exchange resins (IEX), ultrafiltration (UF), electrodeionization (EDI), nanofiltration (NF), membrane bioreactor systems (MBR), membrane aerated biofilm reactors (MABR), and closed-circuit reverse osmosis (CCRO) systems).