- A new lithium extraction process has been developed at MIT
- It’s cheaper and more environmentally friendly than current techniques
- Innovation could drive China’s extraction industry away
Lithium-ion batteries power most of our technological devices, from the best phones to the best drones, which is why the lithium element is in high demand. Now, scientists working at MIT have developed 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 carried out by one of the research team members, materials science and engineering professor Yet-Ming Chiang. His DIY project led him to a glass etching cream that could “eat away” at the surface of glass and make clear glass blocks translucent.
Spodumene, the most abundant lithium mineral, consists mainly of silica, just like glass. With glass etching cream in mind, scientists developed an innovative liquid solution to dissolve silica from spodumene, then developed new techniques to refine lithium and aluminum also found in the rock.
The process is remarkable in several ways: it operates at room temperature, it is about half the cost of current extraction techniques, the liquid solution can be reused repeatedly, and the remaining waste can be repurposed into useful materials.
“You can change the lithium market”
“We believe this approach is the most energy-efficient and cost-effective way to extract lithium not only from hard rock, but also from hard rock,” Chiang says. “This is what motivates us to expand this project. This will enable the energy transition thanks to batteries using lithium.”
It could also change the global landscape in terms of lithium production. China currently dominates the global lithium refining industry, but the element is also abundant in the United States, Europe and Australia – the problem is getting it out of the rocks in which it is locked into a usable form.
Currently, mining lithium requires heating rocks to over 1,000 degrees Celsius, which consumes a considerable amount of energy. The rest of the rock should also be discarded after the mining process. China has always been willing to bear the financial and environmental cost and benefits from large-scale activity.
“Our central thesis is that if you can find an easier way to break rock, extract lithium, and make battery-grade lithium salts, you can change the market for lithium,” says chemist Camden Hunt, one of the researchers who worked on the project.
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