The present disclosure relates, according to some embodiments, to a method for recovery of lithium ions from a lithium-ion containing liquid, the method comprising the steps of coating a nanoparticle with a styrene monomer; polymerizing the styrene monomer to form a polystyrene-coated nanoparticle; attaching a dibenzo-12-crown-4-ether to the polystyrene-coated nanoparticle to form a lithium adsorbing medium; exposing the lithium ion-containing liquid to the lithium adsorbing medium to form a lithium-rich adsorbing medium; and extracting the lithium ion from the lithium-rich adsorbing medium.