I. Hlova, V. Gvozdetskyi
Ames National Laboratory,
United States
Keywords: lithium extraction, hard rock minerals, green methods
Summary:
Driven by the recent surge in electric vehicle production, demand for lithium, a key component in lithium-ion batteries, is drastically increasing. Currently, domestic lithium is obtained through a lengthy solar evaporation of poorly concentrated lithium brines. Implementation of lithium extraction from hard-rock sources (e.g. spodumene), on the other hand, can yield significantly more lithium and reduce well-to-market time. However, this method involves high-temperature processing (~1100°C) of spodumene from highly stable α-spodumene structure into more open β structure that is more susceptible to chemical attack. This energy-intensive decrepitation step makes the process domestically cost-ineffective. In this work, we demonstrate mechanochemically-facilitated techniques that extract lithium directly from α-spodumene at low-temperatures temperatures (RT-800°C) streamlining extraction, reducing the energy input, and chemical usage, thereby improving overall sustainability.