Spinel lithium manganese oxides can be used as Li+ adsorbent with topotactical extraction of lithium. In this paper, the solid state methods were introduced to prepare spinel lithium manganese precursors with Li2CO3 and LiOH center dot H2O as different Li sources. The Li+ uptake was studied to clarify the correction between Li+ adsorption capacity and the preparation conditions of precursors, including different Li sources, Li/Mn mole ratios and heating time. The results indicated that the Li+-extracted materials prepared with LiOH center dot H2O and MnCO3 usually have higher Li+ adsorption capacity than Li2CO3 and MnCO3, and an ascending trend was found in Li+ uptake with increasing Li/Mn mole ratio in the preparation of the precursor, but it is not proportional. The Mn2O3 impurities could be the primary reason for decreasing Li+ adsorption capacity. Furthermore, it is concluded that the Li+-extracted materials obtained from spinel manganese oxides synthesized with Li/Mn= 1.0 can serve as selective Li+ absorbents due to its high selectivity and large adsorption capacity. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.