New Technology for Extracting Lithium from Water
Scientists at Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago have created a new way to get lithium from seawater and salty underground water.
The technology uses vermiculite clay, which is a common and cheap material, costing about $350 per ton. Researchers made the clay into very thin layers – about one nanometer thick – and then added tiny aluminum oxide pillars between them. These pillars help the layers stay together and prevent them from falling apart in water. This also helps to change the surface of the membrane so it can capture lithium more effectively.
To make the membrane better at catching lithium, the researchers added sodium ions to the pillars. This created a surface that repels magnesium ions (which are heavier) while allowing lithium ions to pass through easily. Because lithium has a single positive charge and magnesium has a double positive charge, the membrane is better at separating the two. This new way to extract lithium is more efficient than older methods, leading to higher quality lithium and lower costs.
Researchers believe this filtration method could also be used to recover other valuable minerals from water, like nickel, cobalt, and rare earth elements that are needed to make batteries. It might also be helpful in cleaning up contaminated water.
Source: Argonne National Laboratory
I’m Rohan Mehta, the voice behind KhelRe—a trusted and steadily growing blog dedicated to electric vehicles (EVs) in India. With over five years of experience as a tech and automotive blogger, I turned my frustrations with owning an EV into a mission: to help others make more intelligent choices in this fast-evolving world of electric mobility.
I’ve been an early adopter of EV technology—I repurchased my first electric scooter in 2019. That experience opened my eyes to both the promises and the pitfalls of this new mode of transport. From slow charging times and range anxiety to misleading specs and hidden costs, I’ve faced it all. But instead of walking away, I decided to write about it.
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