Mariia Moshkova
Junior Research Fellow
ITMO University
Mariia Moshkova, a PhD student and junior researcher, specializes in the field of physical chemistry and polymer technology. Her primary research focus is on developing polymer membranes for the selective separation of various metal ions from brines in oil and gas condensate fields. She is a leader in the ITMO University R&D grant "Development of an Ion-Selective Polymer Membrane for Lithium-Ion Extraction from Oilfield Produced Water."
Participates in
TECHNICAL PROGRAMME | Energy Fuels and Molecules
Helium, Lithium, and Trace Metals Extraction
Forum 17 | Technical Programme Hall 3
30
April
10:00
11:30
UTC+3
The demand for lithium, known as the «Energy metal of the 21st century», is growing steadily due to the increasing need for lithium-ion battery-based devices. Moreover, this demand is expected to double the currently-proven supply by 2030, making the search for new sources of lithium critical. Direct lithium extraction technologies can address the lithium market shortage by providing additional supplies of the metal from both conventional and unconventional aqueous resources, including the lithium-enriched waters of oil and gas condensate fields.
Therefore, our research aims to develop the technology of direct lithium extraction based on metal-organic framework-modified membrane with a superior selectivity towards lithium ions. The proposed technology provides oil-producing companies with an advantageous approach of getting additional revenue from oilfield brines – the resources that have not yet been used for the lithium extraction in the Russian Federation.
The composite membrane is based on the polyamide (PA) substrate and is modified with a metal-organic framework zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8). PA is considered to be a cost effective and stable support material for the metal-organic frameworks, maintaining the integrity of these structures during the metal extraction process. The decision to use ZIF-8 was driven by its remarkable ion-selective separation capabilities, enabled by the uniform porosity, favourable size characteristics, and significant surface area, which together make this framework particularly effective for the extraction of lithium.
In addition to the primary investigation of the ZIF-8 properties and the subsequent optimisation of the PA membrane modification, our research presents an analysis of the integrated workflow for lithium extraction process from oilfield brine. The initial brine pre-treatment, the following study of the membrane separation parameters, and the final lithium carbonation step are performed and evaluated. Using this approach, lithium carbonate with a purity of up to 98.44% is successfully extracted from an East Siberian oilfield brine sample. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed technology and underline its strong potential for the subsequent validation in terms of industrial applicability.
Co-author/s:
Ilia Doroshenko, Engineer, ITMO University.
Irina Filippova, Engineer, ITMO University.
Nadezhda Poponina, Engineer, ITMO University.
Therefore, our research aims to develop the technology of direct lithium extraction based on metal-organic framework-modified membrane with a superior selectivity towards lithium ions. The proposed technology provides oil-producing companies with an advantageous approach of getting additional revenue from oilfield brines – the resources that have not yet been used for the lithium extraction in the Russian Federation.
The composite membrane is based on the polyamide (PA) substrate and is modified with a metal-organic framework zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8). PA is considered to be a cost effective and stable support material for the metal-organic frameworks, maintaining the integrity of these structures during the metal extraction process. The decision to use ZIF-8 was driven by its remarkable ion-selective separation capabilities, enabled by the uniform porosity, favourable size characteristics, and significant surface area, which together make this framework particularly effective for the extraction of lithium.
In addition to the primary investigation of the ZIF-8 properties and the subsequent optimisation of the PA membrane modification, our research presents an analysis of the integrated workflow for lithium extraction process from oilfield brine. The initial brine pre-treatment, the following study of the membrane separation parameters, and the final lithium carbonation step are performed and evaluated. Using this approach, lithium carbonate with a purity of up to 98.44% is successfully extracted from an East Siberian oilfield brine sample. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed technology and underline its strong potential for the subsequent validation in terms of industrial applicability.
Co-author/s:
Ilia Doroshenko, Engineer, ITMO University.
Irina Filippova, Engineer, ITMO University.
Nadezhda Poponina, Engineer, ITMO University.
