The present disclosure provides fluorinated crown ethers. The fluorinated crown ethers have one or more pendant fluorinated groups (e.g., thioether groups with a terminal fluorinated group). The fluorinated crown ethers have desirable solubility in supercritical carbon dioxide. Also provided are methods and systems for removal of lithium (e.g., lithium ions) from aqueous samples using the fluorinated crown ethers coupled with lipophilic cation exchangers.

A system for distilling water is disclosed. The system comprises a heat source, and a plurality of open-cycle adsorption stages, each stage comprising a plurality of beds and an evaporator and a condenser between a first bed and a second bed, wherein each bed comprises at least two vapor valves, a plurality of hollow tubes, a plurality of channels adapted for transferring water vapor to and from at least one of the condenser or the evaporator, a thermally conductive water vapor adsorbent, and wherein each vapor valve connects a bed to either the condenser or the evaporator.

Desalination systems, apparatus, and related methods for use with saline fluids are disclosed. A disclosed desalination system includes an HDH system including a humidifier and a dehumidifier that, together, are configured to process a first saline fluid to produce freshwater in the dehumidifier. The desalination system also includes an AD system operatively coupled to the HDH system. The AD system includes a first bed, a second bed, an evaporator, and a condenser that, together, are configured to process a second saline fluid to produce freshwater in the condenser. The condenser is configured to transfer heat exhausted by the first or second bed from a vapor, obtained from the second saline fluid, to air circulating through the humidifier and the dehumidifier to drive the HDH system. The evaporator is configured to provide a cooling effect.

Systems and methods of performing temperature swing solvent extraction (TSSE) descaling of produced water and desalination of high-salinity brines, e.g., those having a total dissolved solids (TDS) greater than about 250,000 ppm are capable of producing descaled water products including less than about 5% weight percent TDS. The brine/produced water feedstreams and combined with a solvent having temperature-dependent water solubility at a temperature T.sub.L. Water is extracted from the feedstream into the solvent to form a water-in-solvent extract component and a raffinate component, from which a solid phase can be precipitated as more water is portioned in the solvent and basicity increases. Heating of the water-in-solvent extract component reduces the solubility of the water therein, producing a biphasic mixture of dewatered solvent and descaled water that can be separated. Because these systems and methods do not require a phase change of water, these products are achieved with significantly higher energy efficiencies when compared to evaporation-based thermal methods.

A flocculant for treating a processing waste liquid into fresh water being formed by pulverizing an ion exchange resin for purification of fresh water into pure water to a size of 100 μm or below. With the ion exchange resin pulverized and used as a flocculant, it is ensured that even when the processing waste liquid is subjected to flocculation and separation, the fresh water separated from the processing debris does not show an increased electric conductivity, and worsening of water quality can be restrained. In addition, since the flocculant is pulverized down to a size of 100 μm or below, flocculation of the processing debris is promoted.

A flocculant for treating a processing waste liquid into fresh water being formed by pulverizing an ion exchange resin for purification of fresh water into pure water to a size of 100 μm or below. With the ion exchange resin pulverized and used as a flocculant, it is ensured that even when the processing waste liquid is subjected to flocculation and separation, the fresh water separated from the processing debris does not show an increased electric conductivity, and worsening of water quality can be restrained. In addition, since the flocculant is pulverized down to a size of 100 μm or below, flocculation of the processing debris is promoted.

Disclosed are methods for using ionic liquids to extract metal ions from aqueous solution, and for subsequent recovery of the metal ions from the ionic liquids by electrochemical methods. The ionic liquids may be recycled and reused for further extraction.

Disclosed are methods for using ionic liquids to extract metal ions from aqueous solution, and for subsequent recovery of the metal ions from the ionic liquids by electrochemical methods. The ionic liquids may be recycled and reused for further extraction.

The present disclosure provides a recycling method of amphiphilic surface-active pollutants in water, comprising: performing a polymerization reaction by illumination treatment on the amphiphilic surface-active pollutants in water to form a polymerization product; performing self-assembly on the polymerization product for aggregation to form a fluorescent material, and performing separation to obtain a recycled product. Through treatment of the amphiphilic surface-active pollutants by illumination, the present disclosure can realize the recycled utilization of the amphiphilic pollutants in the wastewater by one step of reaction, so that the amphiphilic surface-active pollutants can be converted into usable fluorescent materials, and the biological toxicity is greatly reduced. The obtained fluorescent material can be further used in the fields such as biological imaging as a recycled product, realizes detoxification of the pollutants and efficient conversion of organic carbon resources at the same time, provides a novel strategy for wastewater treatment and resource conversion, and achieves a win-win situation for economic benefits and environmental friendliness in the field of amphipathic organic pollution treatment and has a good application prospect.

The disclosure provides an electromagnetic ionic liquid, which consists of ammonia water, diluent, EWT electronic water and macromolecular complex. The four components are mixed evenly at normal temperature and pressure in a certain proportion to prepare the electromagnetic ionic liquid. The electromagnetic ionic liquid can be used for extracting struvite from seawater, salt water or brine, which improves quality of the struvite, facilitates its industrial production and improves yield of struvite products. In addition, with the electromagnetic ionic liquid, elements required for crop growth and dozens of types of trace elements can be captured in the precipitate, which has great social and economic value for mass production, popularization and application of the struvite.