The extraction of raw materials from salars functions as follows: lithium-containing saltwater from underground lakes is brought to the surface and evaporates in large basins. The remaining saline solution is further processed in several stages until the lithium is suitable for use in batteries. Why is lithium mining under criticism?
There are always critical reports on the extraction of lithium from salars: In some areas, locals complain about increasing droughts, which for example threatens livestock farming or leads to vegetation drying out.
From the point of view of experts, it is still unclear to what extent the drought is actually related to lithium mining. It is undisputed that no drinking water is needed for the lithium production itself. What is disputed, on the other hand, is the extent to which the extraction of saltwater leads to an influx of fresh water and thus influences the groundwater at the edge of the salars.
In order to assess this, the underground water flows in the Atacama Desert in Chile, for example, have not yet been sufficiently researched. In addition to lithium mining, possible influencing factors include copper mining, tourism, agriculture and climate change.
How does Volkswagen obtain lithium? Volkswagen is working very closely with battery suppliers to ensure the use of sustainably mined lithium in the supply chain.
Last year, Volkswagen concluded an initial Memorandum of Understanding with the Chinese lithium supplier Ganfeng. Ganfeng obtains the raw material from several mines in Australia, among others. How does Volkswagen confront the criticism regarding lithium mining? Volkswagen is currently collecting facts in order to gain its own impression of the water supply in the Atacama Desert in Chile with the support of independent experts.
As a matter of principle, all Volkswagen suppliers are contractually obliged to adhere to high environmental and social standards. This also applies to suppliers of lithium. The aim is to ensure a sustainable supply of all raw materials.
What are the long-term prospects for lithium demand? The raw material remains important in the long term — says, for example, Nobel Prize winner M. Lithium is a soft, silvery-white, metal that heads group 1, the alkali metals group, of the periodic table of the elements.
Storing it is a problem. It cannot be kept under oil, as sodium can, because it is less dense and floats. So it is stored by being coated with petroleum jelly. Somewhat surprisingly it does not react with oxygen unless heated to o C, but it will react with nitrogen from the atmosphere to form a red-brown compound lithium nitride, Li 3 N. The hydrogen of hydrogen bombs is actually the compound lithium hydride, in which the lithium is the lithium-6 isotope and the hydrogen is the hydrogen-2 isotope deuterium.
This compound is capable of releasing massive amounts of energy from the neutrons released by the atomic bomb at its core. These are absorbed by the nuclei of lithium-6 which immediately disintegrates to form helium and hydrogen-3 which then go on to form other elements and as they do the bomb explodes with the force of millions of tonnes of TNT. Matt Wilkinson on the extraordinary virtues of element number 3, Lithium. Next time to one of the universe's rarer chemicals and horribly toxic though it is, without it we'd be the proverbial particle short of a nucleus.
James Chadwick in discovered the neutron by bombarding a Beryllium sample with the alpha rays eminating from radium. He observed that the beryllium emitted a new kind of sub-atomic particle which had mass but no charge, the neutron and the combination of radium and beryllium is still used to make neutrons for research purposes, although a million alpha-particles only manage to produce 30 neutrons.
So that goes to show that sometimes a lot can only go a little way. Richard Van Noorden will be here with the story of Beryllium on next week's Chemistry in its Element, I hope you can join us. I'm Chris Smith, thank you for listening and goodbye. Chemistry in its element is brought to you by the Royal Society of Chemistry and produced by thenakedscientists. There's more information and other episodes of Chemistry in its element on our website at chemistryworld.
Click here to view videos about Lithium. View videos about. Help Text. Learn Chemistry : Your single route to hundreds of free-to-access chemistry teaching resources. We hope that you enjoy your visit to this Site. We welcome your feedback. Data W. Haynes, ed. Version 1. Coursey, D. Schwab, J. Tsai, and R. Dragoset, Atomic Weights and Isotopic Compositions version 4. Periodic Table of Videos , accessed December Podcasts Produced by The Naked Scientists.
Download our free Periodic Table app for mobile phones and tablets. Explore all elements. D Dysprosium Dubnium Darmstadtium. E Europium Erbium Einsteinium. F Fluorine Francium Fermium Flerovium. G Gallium Germanium Gadolinium Gold. I Iron Indium Iodine Iridium. K Krypton. O Oxygen Osmium Oganesson. U Uranium. V Vanadium. X Xenon. Y Yttrium Ytterbium. Z Zinc Zirconium. Membership Become a member Connect with others Supporting individuals Supporting organisations Manage my membership.
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Youtube. Discovery date. Discovered by. Johan August Arfvedson. Origin of the name. The name is derived from the Greek 'lithos' meaning stone. Melting point. Boiling point. Atomic number. Relative atomic mass. Key isotopes. Electron configuration.
CAS number. ChemSpider ID. ChemSpider is a free chemical structure database. Its effect on the nervous system has also made lithium attractive as a mood-stabilizing drug, and in nuclear research tritium 3 H is obtained by irradiating 6 Li. Energy storage, which should help mitigate the issues of pollution, global warming and fossil-fuel shortage, is becoming more important than ever, and Li-ion batteries are now the technology of choice to develop renewable energy technology and electric vehicles.
They typically consist of a Li-containing positive electrode and a Li-free negative electrode, separated by a Li-based electrolyte. From simple calculations, assuming a one-molar Li-based electrolyte and a 3. The fact that tritium might also be used with deuterium for nuclear fusion could increase demands. Considerable amounts of lithium are present in sea water, but its recovery is trickier, and highly expensive.
It is extremely difficult to estimate the world's lithium reserves 1 , 2 , 3 — a debate typically fed by investors and venture capitalists. The present production of Li 2 CO 3 is about half what would be needed to convert the 50 million cars 4 produced every year into 'plug-in hybrid electric vehicles' with an electric motor powered by a 7 kWh Li-ion battery and a combustion engine.
The demand becomes astronomic if we consider full electric vehicles — which require an on-board battery of 40 kWh. These numbers bring fears of a potential Li shortage in a few decades, painting a dim picture.
This alarming global situation will hopefully drive researchers to investigate new battery technologies 5 and loosen our dependence on lithium. Combining further brine exploitation with an efficient recycling process should be enough to match the demands of a 'propulsion revolution' that would solely rely on Li-ion cells, lessening geopolitical risks.
Greene, L. Google Scholar. It is highly-requested by various industries for its very light weight and its outstanding properties used in electrochemical energy storage technologies.
It is one of the highly strategic elements used in energy storage. Solvay, the leader in advanced fluorinated technology , produces LiTFSI lithium bis-trifluoromethanesulfonimide and its derivatives since more than 10 years thanks to a unique, sustainable and competitive patented process, providing global electronic solution.
With battery growing in popularity, we are in the driving seat for top-notch materials for fast-charging and safer batteries to accelerate on clean mobility. Skip to content. Our Company. About Solvay. Our Purpose. Corporate Citizenship. Product Finder. Solutions by Market.
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