Argentine lithium a boon for some, doom for others
Anahi Jorge, 23, works for a lithium extraction company in Argentina, earning four times the salary of a local government worker in her village of Susques.
Aug 14, 2024
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Anahi Jorge, 23, works for a lithium extraction company in Argentina, earning four times the salary of a local government worker in her village of Susques.
Aug 14, 2024
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Critical minerals like lithium and cobalt are vital to batteries, electric vehicles, and renewable energy systems. To meet the long-term demand for these materials, finding sources of these materials beyond mining has become ...
Aug 13, 2024
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More than almost any other substance on Earth, lithium (Li) is valued as a 21st century treasure. But Australia's race to unlock its lithium is challenged by political and economic headwinds both global and domestic.
Aug 2, 2024
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Lithium-ion batteries have a lot of advantages. They charge quickly, have a high energy density, and can be repeatedly charged and discharged.
Jul 31, 2024
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Researchers at the Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology (QIBEBT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, along with collaborators from leading international institutions, have introduced an innovative cathode ...
Jul 31, 2024
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The "white gold" of clean energy, lithium is a key ingredient in batteries large and small, from those powering phones and laptops to grid-scale energy storage systems.
Jul 29, 2024
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To transition away from fossil fuels and towards renewables—which are intermittent by nature—we'll need to rework our entire system of power storage, transmission and distribution. Yet experts haven't yet found the right ...
Jul 25, 2024
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Fusion vessels have a Goldilocks problem: The plasma within needs to be hot enough to generate net power, but if it's too hot, it can damage the vessel's interior. Researchers at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) ...
Jul 23, 2024
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In recent years, batteries have become ubiquitous in consumers' daily lives. However, existing commercial battery technologies, which use liquid electrolytes and carbonaceous anodes, have certain drawbacks such as safety ...
Jul 22, 2024
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The extent to which renewables should dominate Australia's energy grids is a major issue in science and politics. Solar and wind are clearly now the cheapest form of electricity. But limits to these technologies can undermine ...
Jul 22, 2024
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Lithium (pronounced /ˈlɪθiəm/) is the chemical element with atomic number 3, and is represented by the symbol Li. It is a soft alkali metal with a silver-white color. Under standard conditions it is the lightest metal and the least dense solid element. Like all alkali metals lithium is highly reactive, corroding quickly in moist air to form a black tarnish. For this reason lithium metal is typically stored under the cover of oil. When cut open lithium exhibits a metallic luster, but contact with oxygen quickly turns it back to a dull silvery gray color. Lithium in its elemental state is highly flammable.
According to theory, lithium was one of the few elements synthesized in the Big Bang. Since its current estimated abundance in the universe is vastly less than that predicted by theory; the processes by which new lithium is created and destroyed, and the true value of its abundance, continue to be active matters of study in astronomy. The nuclei of lithium are relatively fragile: the two stable lithium isotopes found in nature have lower binding energies per nucleon than any other stable compound nuclides, save for the exotic and rare deuterium, and 3He. Though very light in atomic weight, lithium is less common in the solar system than 25 of the first 32 chemical elements.
Due to its high reactivity it only appears naturally in the form of compounds. Lithium occurs in a number of pegmatitic minerals, but is also commonly obtained from brines and clays. On a commercial scale, lithium metal is isolated electrolytically from a mixture of lithium chloride and potassium chloride.
Trace amounts of lithium are present in the oceans and in some organisms, though the element serves no apparent vital biological function in humans. However, the lithium ion Li+ administered as any of several lithium salts has proved to be useful as a mood stabilizing drug due to neurological effects of the ion in the human body. Lithium and its compounds have several industrial applications, including heat-resistant glass and ceramics, high strength-to-weight alloys used in aircraft, and lithium batteries. Lithium also has important links to nuclear physics. The transmutation of lithium atoms to tritium was the first man-made form of a nuclear fusion reaction, and lithium deuteride serves as a fusion fuel in staged thermonuclear weapons.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA