MIT's New Method Can Extract Lithium From Hard Rock at Room Temperature
The process cuts conventional costs in half and eliminates mining waste by turning spodumene into three market-ready commodities.
- MIT Professor Yet-Ming Chiang and researchers unveiled a room-temperature method to extract lithium from spodumene, potentially breaking China's global supply chain monopoly.
- Because Western nations lack infrastructure to process raw rock, they ship it to China, where traditional refining requires massive, high-temperature kilns and acid, creating toxic slag.
- Researchers tested this "nose-to-tail mining" process on 17 different spodumene sources, utilizing ammonium fluoride to dissolve silica and separate the rock into lithium salts, alumina, and silica.
- Startup Rock Zero is currently scaling the technology at Boston's The Engine incubator, lowering hard-rock mining costs to levels competitive with South American brine extraction.
- Camden Hunt, a former project manager at MIT, said the method "can change the lithium market," noting that global reserves support 100 terawatt-hours of battery production.
15 Articles
15 Articles
The Download: unlocking lithium and controlling Ebola
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. How a new extraction process could unlock the world’s lithium A new method for extracting lithium could cut costs and emissions from one of the world’s most important materials for EVs and energy storage. The technique uses a weak acid to dissolve silicate minerals. That frees not only the lithium but also ot…
MIT's new method can extract lithium from hard rock at room temperature
The multi-billion-dollar future of clean energy was unlocked by a trip to the hardware store for bathroom tile supplies. Twenty-five years ago, MIT Professor Yet-Ming Chiang bought a tube of glass-etching cream to turn clear glass blocks translucent. He noticed it worked by “eating away” at the surface. Decades later, that mundane trip provided the missing link to break China’s monopoly on the global electric vehicle supply chain. Writing in Sci…
A visit to a hardware store ended up inspiring the discovery that can change the world market for lithium and batteries.
Scientists unveil game-changing lithium extraction method that could transform EV battery production
Researchers at Columbia Engineering developed S3E, a faster, cleaner method that uses a temperature-responsive solvent to extract lithium directly from underground brines. S3E extracts lithium up to 10 times higher than sodium and 12 times higher than potassium and can handle low-concentration or contaminated brines. Yip stated the system is fast, selective and easy to […]
New MIT method could cut lithium costs in half while producing almost no waste
Lithium has become one of the world’s most important minerals because it is a key ingredient in the rechargeable batteries that power electric vehicles, smartphones, laptops, and energy storage systems. As demand for batteries continues to grow, so does the need for lithium. Although countries such as the United States and Australia have large lithium […] The post New MIT method could cut lithium costs in half while producing almost no waste app…
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