- A new lithium extraction process has been developed at MIT
- It is cheaper and more environmentally friendly than current techniques
- The innovation could move the extractive industry away from China
Lithium-ion batteries power most of our tech devices, from the best phones to the best drones, so the element lithium is in demand. Now researchers working at MIT have come up with a new way to extract it from rock that is cheaper and more environmentally friendly than the techniques currently used.
The new process was actually inspired by a bathroom renovation done by one of the research team, Materials Science and Engineering professor Yet-Ming Chiang. His DIY project led him to a glass etching cream that could ‘eat away’ the glass surface and make clear glass blocks translucent.
Spodumene, the most abundant lithium-bearing mineral, consists mainly of silica, like glass. With the glass etchant in mind, the researchers developed an innovative liquid solution to dissolve the silica in the spodumene, then developed new techniques to refine the lithium and aluminum also found in the rock.
The process is remarkable in a number of ways: it works at room temperature, it is about half the cost of current extraction techniques, the liquid solution can be reused repeatedly, and the residual waste can be turned into useful materials.
‘You can change the lithium market’
“We think this approach is the cheapest way to get lithium out of hard rock, but also period,” says Chiang. “That’s what motivates us to scale this. It will enable the energy transition through batteries that use lithium.”
It also has the potential to change the global landscape of lithium production. China currently dominates the global lithium refining industry, but there is also an abundance of the element in the US, Europe and Australia – the problem is getting it out of the rocks it’s encased in a usable form.
Currently, mining lithium requires heating rock to over 1,000 degrees Celsius, which uses a significant amount of energy. The rest of the stone must also be discarded after the extraction process. China has historically been willing to shoulder the economic and environmental costs and benefits from operating on a large scale.
“Our central thesis is that if you can find an easier way to crack the rock, get the lithium out and make battery-grade lithium salts, you can change the lithium market,” says chemist Camden Hunt, one of the researchers who worked on the project.
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