Here, we report a simple method for capture of lithium from sea/waste water by the new ion-sieves with additional photocatalytic abilities for splitting of water to hydrogen during the lithium capture processes. The ion-sieves can maintain 85 of its best performance in the cycles of Li captureenrichment. The new photoactive ion-sieves have many promising applications in the areas of selective capturerecycling of metal ions from wastecontaminated waters.

The key technologies in the new device for the automatic lithium mining from sea/wastewater include: (1) High shape-selectivity for desired ion recycling (2) Low-cost, simplehigh-automatic operation. (3) Lithium can be captured by precipitation with CO2 to yield Li2CO3 for direction utilization (4) Economically attractivelyenvironmental friendly (5) Photocatalytic ability for splittin

The photoactive titanate ion-sieves have many applications for selective capture of metal ions from sea/waste waters. The new lithium mining technology has many advantages for commercialization such as: (1) High shape-selectivity (2) Low-costsimple with a high-automatic operation (3) Lithium precipitated with CO2 to yield Li2CO3 (4) Environmental friendly(5) Photocatalytic splitting