Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Desalination journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/desal Application of heterogeneous ion exchange membranes for simultaneous separation and recovery of lithium and boron from aqueous solution with bipolar membrane electrodialysis (EDBM) Deniz İpekçi a,d , Nalan Kabay a, ⁎ , Samuel Bunani a,b,e , Esra Altıok a , Müşerref Arda b , Kazuharu Yoshizuka c , Syouhei Nishihama c a Ege University, Chemical Engineering Department, 35100 Izmir, Turkey b Ege University, Chemistry Department, 35100 Izmir, Turkey c The University of Kitakyushu, Department of Chemical Engineering, Kitakyushu, Japan d Süleyman Demirel University, Chemical Engineering Department, Isparta, Turkey e University of Burundi, Department of Chemistry, Bujumbura, Burundi GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Electromembrane processes Boron Lithium Heterogeneous ion exchange membrane Simultaneous separation and recovery ABSTRACT In this study, heterogeneous ion exchange membranes were tested for separation and recovery of boron and lithium from aqueous solutions with bipolar membrane electrodialysis (EDBM). The results indicated that separation ef- ciencies and recoveries of both boron and lithium were strongly infuenced by the acid and base solutions employed in acid and base cells, fow rate of sample solution and electrical potential applied. It was concluded that separation efciencies and recoveries of boron and lithium were improved with an increase in the fow rate of sample solution. The highest separation efciencies were 93% and 69% for lithium and boron, respectively at 50 L/h of sample solution fow rate. The highest recoveries of lithium and boron were achieved as 57% and 41%, respectively at this condition. When electrical potential increased from 15 V to 25 V, boron and lithium separation efciencies and recoveries ob- tained were higher. At 30 V of electrical potential, pH of sample solution decreased because of the proton leakage into the sample cell. Since anionic borate ions in sample solution cell were considered to be converted to neutral boric acid, this situation resulted in lower separation efciencies and recovery of boron from sample solution. By applying optimal process conditions (25 V and 50 L/h of sample solution fow rate), 59% of boron recovery and 73% of lithium recovery were obtained in acid and base cells, respectively. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2020.114313 Received 8 September 2019; Received in revised form 28 December 2019; Accepted 6 January 2020 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: nalan.kabay@ege.edu.tr (N. Kabay). Desalination 479 (2020) 114313 0011-9164/ © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. T