(103i) Advanced Lithium Extraction for Battery Sustainability

Lithium was recently classified as a critical mineral, whose production must surge to meet growing demand for batteries without incurring unsustainable costs, carbon emissions or environmental hazards. Today, lithium is mainly produced by hard-rock mining and processed for battery manufacturing overseas, but much more lithium is available in brine resources, which mostly remain untapped for lack of an economical and sustainable extraction method. The conventional approach of solar evaporation ponds is not feasible for most brines due to their low lithium concentrations (<500ppm) and high impurity levels (> 10:1 Mg/Ca:Li), as well as the large water and land requirements ( ~100km2). Emerging methods of Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) by adsorption or ion exchange have a smaller footprint but also struggle with these compositions and can require significant water or acids and bases. Moreover, neither these methods, nor existing hydro- or pyro-metallurgical processes for battery recycling, can economically extract lithium from black-mass for a circular economy. Advanced Lithium Extraction (ALE) based on electrochemistry has the potential to overcome these challenges by replacing harsh chemicals with electrons as reactants to achieve unprecedented lithium selectivity, while dramatically reducing water and energy use and carbon emissions, for a wide range of brines and leachates from mining and battery recycling.