Polymeric membrane reservoir system which contains inorganic ion-exchange adsorbent inside is suggested for the recovery of lithium from natural seawater. Manganese oxide particles having high selectivity toward lithium adsorption was used as inorganic ion-exchange adsorbent. Polymeric membrane reservoir was prepared from non-woven fabric, polysulfone (PSf) membrane, PSf/non-woven fabric composite membrane, and Kimtex (R). Leakage of the inorganic particles and morphology of the membrane were investigated and availability as membrane reservoir for the lithium recovery was evaluated by the lithium desorption from Li1.33M1.67O4 in the membrane reservoir. From this study, ease of water diffusion to the reservoir was the most important factor for the reservoir system to be applied to lithium recovery from seawater and membrane reservoir prepared by Kimtex (R) showed the best result. The proposed system has the advantage of direct application in the sea without using pressurized flow system. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.