Lithium (from el, λίθος, lithos, lit=stone) is a
chemical element
A chemical element is a species of atoms that have a given number of protons in their nuclei, including the pure substance consisting only of that species. Unlike chemical compounds, chemical elements cannot be broken down into simpler sub ...
with the
symbol
A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...
Li and
atomic number
The atomic number or nuclear charge number (symbol ''Z'') of a chemical element is the charge number of an atomic nucleus. For ordinary nuclei, this is equal to the proton number (''n''p) or the number of protons found in the nucleus of every ...
3. It is a soft, silvery-white
alkali metal
The alkali metals consist of the chemical elements lithium (Li), sodium (Na), potassium (K),The symbols Na and K for sodium and potassium are derived from their Latin names, ''natrium'' and ''kalium''; these are still the origins of the names ...
. Under
standard conditions
Standard temperature and pressure (STP) are standard sets of conditions for experimental measurements to be established to allow comparisons to be made between different sets of data. The most used standards are those of the International Union o ...
, it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid element. Like all alkali metals, lithium is highly
reactive
Reactive may refer to:
*Generally, capable of having a reaction (disambiguation)
*An adjective abbreviation denoting a bowling ball coverstock made of reactive resin
*Reactivity (chemistry)
*Reactive mind
*Reactive programming
See also
*Reactanc ...
and flammable, and must be stored in vacuum, inert atmosphere, or inert liquid such as purified kerosene or mineral oil. When cut, it exhibits a metallic
luster, but moist air
corrodes it quickly to a dull silvery gray, then black tarnish. It never occurs freely in nature, but only in (usually ionic)
compounds, such as
pegmatitic
A pegmatite is an igneous rock showing a very coarse texture, with large interlocking crystals usually greater in size than and sometimes greater than . Most pegmatites are composed of quartz, feldspar, and mica, having a similar silicic com ...
minerals, which were once the main source of lithium. Due to its solubility as an ion, it is present in ocean water and is commonly obtained from
brine
Brine is a high-concentration solution of salt (NaCl) in water (H2O). In diverse contexts, ''brine'' may refer to the salt solutions ranging from about 3.5% (a typical concentration of seawater, on the lower end of that of solutions used for br ...
s. Lithium metal is isolated
electrolytically from a mixture of
lithium chloride
Lithium chloride is a chemical compound with the formula Li Cl. The salt is a typical ionic compound (with certain covalent characteristics), although the small size of the Li+ ion gives rise to properties not seen for other alkali metal chlor ...
and
potassium chloride
Potassium chloride (KCl, or potassium salt) is a metal halide salt composed of potassium and chlorine. It is odorless and has a white or colorless vitreous crystal appearance. The solid dissolves readily in water, and its solutions have a salt ...
.
The
nucleus
Nucleus ( : nuclei) is a Latin word for the seed inside a fruit. It most often refers to:
*Atomic nucleus, the very dense central region of an atom
*Cell nucleus, a central organelle of a eukaryotic cell, containing most of the cell's DNA
Nucle ...
of the lithium atom verges on instability, since the two stable lithium
isotope
Isotopes are two or more types of atoms that have the same atomic number (number of protons in their nuclei) and position in the periodic table (and hence belong to the same chemical element), and that differ in nucleon numbers (mass numbers) ...
s found in nature have among the lowest
binding energies
In physics and chemistry, binding energy is the smallest amount of energy required to remove a particle from a system of particles or to disassemble a system of particles into individual parts. In the former meaning the term is predominantly use ...
per
nucleon
In physics and chemistry, a nucleon is either a proton or a neutron, considered in its role as a component of an atomic nucleus. The number of nucleons in a nucleus defines the atom's mass number (nucleon number).
Until the 1960s, nucleons were ...
of all stable
nuclide
A nuclide (or nucleide, from nucleus, also known as nuclear species) is a class of atoms characterized by their number of protons, ''Z'', their number of neutrons, ''N'', and their nuclear energy state.
The word ''nuclide'' was coined by Truman ...
s. Because of its relative nuclear instability, lithium is less common in the solar system than 25 of the first 32 chemical elements even though its nuclei are very light: it is an exception to the trend that heavier nuclei are less common.
[Numerical data from: Graphed at :File:SolarSystemAbundances.jpg] For related reasons, lithium has important uses in
nuclear physics
Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter.
Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...
. The
transmutation of lithium atoms to
helium
Helium (from el, ἥλιος, helios, lit=sun) is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. ...
in 1932 was the first fully man-made
nuclear reaction
In nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, a nuclear reaction is a process in which two atomic nucleus, nuclei, or a nucleus and an external subatomic particle, collide to produce one or more new nuclides. Thus, a nuclear reaction must cause a t ...
, and
lithium deuteride
Lithium hydride is an inorganic compound with the formula Li H. This alkali metal hydride is a colorless solid, although commercial samples are grey. Characteristic of a salt-like (ionic) hydride, it has a high melting point, and it is not solub ...
serves as a
fusion
Fusion, or synthesis, is the process of combining two or more distinct entities into a new whole.
Fusion may also refer to:
Science and technology Physics
*Nuclear fusion, multiple atomic nuclei combining to form one or more different atomic nucl ...
fuel in
staged thermonuclear weapons.
Lithium and its compounds have several industrial applications, including heat-resistant glass and
ceramic
A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...
s,
lithium grease
Lithium soap is a soap consisting of a lithium salt of a fatty acid. Sodium-based and potassium-based soaps are used as cleaning agents in domestic and industrial applications, whereas lithium soaps are used as components of lithium grease (white ...
lubricants, flux additives for iron, steel and aluminium production,
lithium metal batteries
Lithium (from el, λίθος, lithos, lit=stone) is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid e ...
, and
lithium-ion batteries
A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery which uses the reversible reduction of lithium ions to store energy. It is the predominant battery type used in portable consumer electronics and electric vehicles. It also se ...
. These uses consume more than three-quarters of lithium production.
Lithium is present in biological systems in trace amounts; its functions are uncertain. Lithium salts have proven to be useful as a mood stabilizer and
antidepressant
Antidepressants are a class of medication used to treat major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, chronic pain conditions, and to help manage addictions. Common side-effects of antidepressants include dry mouth, weight gain, dizziness, hea ...
in the treatment of mental illness such as
bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...
.
Properties
Atomic and physical
![Limetal](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Limetal.JPG)
The
alkali metal
The alkali metals consist of the chemical elements lithium (Li), sodium (Na), potassium (K),The symbols Na and K for sodium and potassium are derived from their Latin names, ''natrium'' and ''kalium''; these are still the origins of the names ...
s are also called the
lithium family, after its leading element. Like the other alkali metals (which are
sodium
Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na (from Latin ''natrium'') and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 of the periodic table. Its only stable iso ...
(Na),
potassium
Potassium is the chemical element with the symbol K (from Neo-Latin ''kalium'') and atomic number19. Potassium is a silvery-white metal that is soft enough to be cut with a knife with little force. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmosphe ...
(K),
rubidium
Rubidium is the chemical element with the symbol Rb and atomic number 37. It is a very soft, whitish-grey solid in the alkali metal group, similar to potassium and caesium. Rubidium is the first alkali metal in the group to have a density higher ...
(Rb),
caesium
Caesium (IUPAC spelling) (or cesium in American English) is a chemical element with the symbol Cs and atomic number 55. It is a soft, silvery-golden alkali metal with a melting point of , which makes it one of only five elemental metals that a ...
(Cs), and
francium
Francium is a chemical element with the symbol Fr and atomic number 87. It is extremely radioactive; its most stable isotope, francium-223 (originally called actinium K after the natural decay chain it appears in), has a half-life of only 22&nb ...
(Fr)), lithium has a single
valence electron
In chemistry and physics, a valence electron is an electron in the outer shell associated with an atom, and that can participate in the formation of a chemical bond if the outer shell is not closed. In a single covalent bond, a shared pair forms ...
that is easily given up to form a
cation
An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge.
The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by convent ...
.
Because of this, lithium is a good conductor of heat and electricity as well as a highly reactive element, though it is the least reactive of the alkali metals. Lithium's low reactivity is due to the proximity of its valence electron to its
nucleus
Nucleus ( : nuclei) is a Latin word for the seed inside a fruit. It most often refers to:
*Atomic nucleus, the very dense central region of an atom
*Cell nucleus, a central organelle of a eukaryotic cell, containing most of the cell's DNA
Nucle ...
(the remaining
two electrons are in the
1s orbital, much lower in energy, and do not participate in chemical bonds).
Molten lithium is significantly more reactive than its solid form.
Lithium metal is soft enough to be cut with a knife. When cut, it possesses a silvery-white color that quickly changes to gray as it oxidizes to
lithium oxide
Lithium oxide ( O) or lithia is an inorganic chemical compound. It is a white solid. Although not specifically important, many materials are assessed on the basis of their Li2O content. For example, the Li2O content of the principal lithium miner ...
.
Its
melting point
The melting point (or, rarely, liquefaction point) of a substance is the temperature at which it changes state from solid to liquid. At the melting point the solid and liquid phase exist in equilibrium. The melting point of a substance depends ...
of
and its
boiling point
The boiling point of a substance is the temperature at which the vapor pressure of a liquid equals the pressure surrounding the liquid and the liquid changes into a vapor.
The boiling point of a liquid varies depending upon the surrounding envir ...
of
are each the highest of all the alkali metals while its
density
Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the substance's mass per unit of volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' can also be used. Mathematical ...
of 0.534
g/cm3 is the lowest.
Lithium has a very low density (0.534 g/cm
3), comparable with
pine wood
A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...
. It is the least dense of all elements that are solids at room temperature; the next lightest solid element (potassium, at 0.862 g/cm
3) is more than 60% denser. Apart from
helium
Helium (from el, ἥλιος, helios, lit=sun) is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. ...
and
hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, an ...
, as a solid it is less dense than any other element as a liquid, being only two-thirds as dense as
liquid nitrogen
Liquid nitrogen—LN2—is nitrogen in a liquid state at low temperature. Liquid nitrogen has a boiling point of about . It is produced industrially by fractional distillation of liquid air. It is a colorless, low viscosity liquid that is wide ...
(0.808 g/cm
3). Lithium can float on the lightest hydrocarbon oils and is one of only three metals that can float on water, the other two being
sodium
Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na (from Latin ''natrium'') and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 of the periodic table. Its only stable iso ...
and
potassium
Potassium is the chemical element with the symbol K (from Neo-Latin ''kalium'') and atomic number19. Potassium is a silvery-white metal that is soft enough to be cut with a knife with little force. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmosphe ...
.
![Lithium element](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Lithium_element.jpg)
Lithium's
coefficient of thermal expansion
Thermal expansion is the tendency of matter to change its shape
A shape or figure is a graphics, graphical representation of an object or its external boundary, outline, or external Surface (mathematics), surface, as opposed to other pro ...
is twice that of
aluminium
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...
and almost four times that of
iron
Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...
. Lithium is
superconductive
Superconductivity is a set of physical properties observed in certain materials where electrical resistance vanishes and magnetic flux fields are expelled from the material. Any material exhibiting these properties is a superconductor. Unlike ...
below 400
μK
The kelvin, symbol K, is the primary unit of temperature in the International System of Units (SI), used alongside its prefixed forms and the degree Celsius. It is named after the Belfast-born and University of Glasgow-based engineer and phys ...
at standard pressure and at higher temperatures (more than 9 K) at very high pressures (>20 GPa). At temperatures below 70 K, lithium, like sodium, undergoes
diffusionless phase change transformations. At 4.2 K it has a
rhombohedral crystal system
In crystallography, the hexagonal crystal family is one of the six crystal families, which includes two crystal systems (hexagonal and trigonal) and two lattice systems (hexagonal and rhombohedral). While commonly confused, the trigonal crystal ...
(with a nine-layer repeat spacing); at higher temperatures it transforms to
face-centered cubic
In crystallography, the cubic (or isometric) crystal system is a crystal system where the unit cell is in the shape of a cube. This is one of the most common and simplest shapes found in crystals and minerals.
There are three main varieties of ...
and then
body-centered cubic
In crystallography, the cubic (or isometric) crystal system is a crystal system where the unit cell is in the shape of a cube. This is one of the most common and simplest shapes found in crystals and minerals.
There are three main varieties of ...
. At liquid-helium temperatures (4 K) the rhombohedral structure is prevalent.
Multiple allotropic forms have been identified for lithium at high pressures.
Lithium has a mass
specific heat capacity
In thermodynamics, the specific heat capacity (symbol ) of a substance is the heat capacity of a sample of the substance divided by the mass of the sample, also sometimes referred to as massic heat capacity. Informally, it is the amount of heat t ...
of 3.58 kilojoules per kilogram-kelvin, the highest of all solids.
Because of this, lithium metal is often used in
coolant
A coolant is a substance, typically liquid, that is used to reduce or regulate the temperature of a system. An ideal coolant has high thermal capacity, low viscosity, is low-cost, non-toxic, chemically inert and neither causes nor promotes corrosio ...
s for
heat transfer
Heat transfer is a discipline of thermal engineering that concerns the generation, use, conversion, and exchange of thermal energy (heat) between physical systems. Heat transfer is classified into various mechanisms, such as thermal conduction, ...
applications.
Isotopes
Naturally occurring lithium is composed of two stable
isotope
Isotopes are two or more types of atoms that have the same atomic number (number of protons in their nuclei) and position in the periodic table (and hence belong to the same chemical element), and that differ in nucleon numbers (mass numbers) ...
s,
6Li and
7Li, the latter being the more abundant (92.5%
natural abundance
In physics, natural abundance (NA) refers to the abundance of isotopes of a chemical element as naturally found on a planet. The relative atomic mass (a weighted average, weighted by mole-fraction abundance figures) of these isotopes is the atomi ...
).
Both natural isotopes have anomalously low
nuclear binding energy
Nuclear binding energy in experimental physics is the minimum energy that is required to disassemble the atomic nucleus, nucleus of an atom into its constituent protons and neutrons, known collectively as nucleons. The binding energy for stable n ...
per nucleon (compared to the neighboring elements on the
periodic table
The periodic table, also known as the periodic table of the (chemical) elements, is a rows and columns arrangement of the chemical elements. It is widely used in chemistry, physics, and other sciences, and is generally seen as an icon of ch ...
,
helium
Helium (from el, ἥλιος, helios, lit=sun) is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. ...
and
beryllium
Beryllium is a chemical element with the symbol Be and atomic number 4. It is a steel-gray, strong, lightweight and brittle alkaline earth metal. It is a divalent element that occurs naturally only in combination with other elements to form mi ...
); lithium is the only low numbered element that can produce net energy through
nuclear fission
Nuclear fission is a reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into two or more smaller nuclei. The fission process often produces gamma photons, and releases a very large amount of energy even by the energetic standards of radio ...
. The two lithium nuclei have lower binding energies per nucleon than any other stable nuclides other than
hydrogen-1
Hydrogen (1H) has three naturally occurring isotopes, sometimes denoted , , and . and are stable, while has a half-life of years. Heavier isotopes also exist, all of which are synthetic and have a half-life of less than one zeptosecond (10 ...
,
deuterium
Deuterium (or hydrogen-2, symbol or deuterium, also known as heavy hydrogen) is one of two Stable isotope ratio, stable isotopes of hydrogen (the other being Hydrogen atom, protium, or hydrogen-1). The atomic nucleus, nucleus of a deuterium ato ...
and
helium-3
Helium-3 (3He see also helion) is a light, stable isotope of helium with two protons and one neutron (the most common isotope, helium-4, having two protons and two neutrons in contrast). Other than protium (ordinary hydrogen), helium-3 is the ...
.
[ :File:Binding energy curve - common isotopes.svg shows binding energies of stable nuclides graphically; the source of the data-set is given in the figure background.] As a result of this, though very light in atomic weight, lithium is less common in the Solar System than 25 of the first 32 chemical elements.
Seven
radioisotope
A radionuclide (radioactive nuclide, radioisotope or radioactive isotope) is a nuclide that has excess nuclear energy, making it unstable. This excess energy can be used in one of three ways: emitted from the nucleus as gamma radiation; transferr ...
s have been characterized, the most stable being
8Li with a
half-life
Half-life (symbol ) is the time required for a quantity (of substance) to reduce to half of its initial value. The term is commonly used in nuclear physics to describe how quickly unstable atoms undergo radioactive decay or how long stable ato ...
of 838
ms and
9Li with a half-life of 178 ms. All of the remaining
radioactive
Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is consid ...
isotopes have half-lives that are shorter than 8.6 ms. The shortest-lived isotope of lithium is
4Li, which decays through
proton emission
Proton emission (also known as proton radioactivity) is a rare type of radioactive decay in which a proton is ejected from a nucleus. Proton emission can occur from high-lying excited states in a nucleus following a beta decay, in which case t ...
and has a half-life of 7.6 × 10
−23 s.
The
6Li isotope is one of only
five stable nuclides to have both an odd number of protons and an odd number of neutrons, the other four stable
odd-odd nuclides being
hydrogen-2
Deuterium (or hydrogen-2, symbol or deuterium, also known as heavy hydrogen) is one of two stable isotopes of hydrogen (the other being protium, or hydrogen-1). The nucleus of a deuterium atom, called a deuteron, contains one proton and one n ...
,
boron-10
Boron is a chemical element with the symbol B and atomic number 5. In its crystalline form it is a brittle, dark, lustrous metalloid; in its amorphous form it is a brown powder. As the lightest element of the ''boron group'' it has thr ...
,
nitrogen-14
Natural nitrogen (7N) consists of two stable isotopes: the vast majority (99.6%) of naturally occurring nitrogen is nitrogen-14, with the remainder being nitrogen-15. Fourteen radioisotopes are also known, with atomic masses ranging from 10 to 25, ...
, and
tantalum-180m
Natural tantalum (73Ta) consists of two stable isotopes: 181Ta (99.988%) and (0.012%).
There are also 35 known artificial radioisotopes, the longest-lived of which are 179Ta with a half-life of 1.82 years, 182Ta with a half-life of 114.43 days, ...
.
7Li is one of the
primordial elements
In geochemistry, geophysics and nuclear physics, primordial nuclides, also known as primordial isotopes, are nuclides found on Earth that have existed in their current form since before Earth was formed. Primordial nuclides were present in the ...
(or, more properly, primordial
nuclide
A nuclide (or nucleide, from nucleus, also known as nuclear species) is a class of atoms characterized by their number of protons, ''Z'', their number of neutrons, ''N'', and their nuclear energy state.
The word ''nuclide'' was coined by Truman ...
s) produced in
Big Bang nucleosynthesis
In physical cosmology, Big Bang nucleosynthesis (abbreviated BBN, also known as primordial nucleosynthesis) is the production of nuclei other than those of the lightest isotope of hydrogen (hydrogen-1, 1H, having a single proton as a nucleus) du ...
. A small amount of both
6Li and
7Li are produced in stars during
stellar nucleosynthesis
Stellar nucleosynthesis is the creation (nucleosynthesis) of chemical elements by nuclear fusion reactions within stars. Stellar nucleosynthesis has occurred since the original creation of hydrogen, helium and lithium during the Big Bang. As a ...
, but it is further "
burned" as fast as produced.
7Li can also be generated in
carbon star
A carbon star (C-type star) is typically an asymptotic giant branch star, a luminous red giant, whose atmosphere contains more carbon than oxygen. The two elements combine in the upper layers of the star, forming carbon monoxide, which consumes mos ...
s. Additional small amounts of both
6Li and
7Li may be generated from solar wind, cosmic rays hitting heavier atoms, and from early solar system
7 Be and
10Be radioactive decay.
Lithium isotopes fractionate substantially during a wide variety of natural processes, including mineral formation (chemical precipitation),
metabolism
Metabolism (, from el, μεταβολή ''metabolē'', "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cell ...
, and
ion exchange
Ion exchange is a reversible interchange of one kind of ion present in an insoluble solid with another of like charge present in a solution surrounding the solid with the reaction being used especially for softening or making water demineralised, ...
. Lithium ions substitute for
magnesium
Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 of the periodic ta ...
and iron in octahedral sites in
clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4).
Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...
minerals, where
6Li is preferred to
7Li, resulting in enrichment of the light isotope in processes of hyperfiltration and rock alteration. The exotic
11Li is known to exhibit a
neutron halo, with 2 neutrons orbiting around its nucleus of 3 protons and 6 neutrons. The process known as
laser isotope separation can be used to separate lithium isotopes, in particular
7Li from
6Li.
Nuclear weapons manufacture and other nuclear physics applications are a major source of artificial lithium fractionation, with the light isotope
6Li being retained by industry and military stockpiles to such an extent that it has caused slight but measurable change in the
6Li to
7Li ratios in natural sources, such as rivers. This has led to unusual uncertainty in the standardized
atomic weight
Relative atomic mass (symbol: ''A''; sometimes abbreviated RAM or r.a.m.), also known by the deprecated synonym atomic weight, is a dimensionless physical quantity defined as the ratio of the average mass of atoms of a chemical element in a giv ...
of lithium, since this quantity depends on the natural abundance ratios of these naturally-occurring stable lithium isotopes, as they are available in commercial lithium mineral sources.
Both stable isotopes of lithium can be
laser cooled and were used to produce the first quantum degenerate
Bose
Bose may refer to:
* Bose (crater), a lunar crater
* ''Bose'' (film), a 2004 Indian Tamil film starring Srikanth and Sneha
* Bose (surname), a surname (and list of people with the name)
* Bose, Italy, a ''frazioni'' in Magnano, Province of Biella ...
-
Fermi
Enrico Fermi (; 29 September 1901 – 28 November 1954) was an Italian (later naturalized American) physicist and the creator of the world's first nuclear reactor, the Chicago Pile-1. He has been called the "architect of the nuclear age" and ...
mixture.
Occurrence
Astronomical
Although it was synthesized in the
Big Bang
The Big Bang event is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models of the Big Bang explain the evolution of the observable universe from the ...
, lithium (together with beryllium and boron) is markedly less abundant in the universe than other elements. This is a result of the comparatively low stellar temperatures necessary to destroy lithium, along with a lack of common processes to produce it.
According to modern cosmological theory, lithium—in both stable isotopes (lithium-6 and lithium-7)—was one of the three elements synthesized in the Big Bang. Though the amount of lithium generated in
Big Bang nucleosynthesis
In physical cosmology, Big Bang nucleosynthesis (abbreviated BBN, also known as primordial nucleosynthesis) is the production of nuclei other than those of the lightest isotope of hydrogen (hydrogen-1, 1H, having a single proton as a nucleus) du ...
is dependent upon the number of
photon
A photon () is an elementary particle that is a quantum of the electromagnetic field, including electromagnetic radiation such as light and radio waves, and the force carrier for the electromagnetic force. Photons are massless, so they always ...
s per
baryon
In particle physics, a baryon is a type of composite subatomic particle which contains an odd number of valence quarks (at least 3). Baryons belong to the hadron family of particles; hadrons are composed of quarks. Baryons are also classified ...
, for accepted values the lithium abundance can be calculated, and there is a "
cosmological lithium discrepancy" in the universe: older stars seem to have less lithium than they should, and some younger stars have much more. The lack of lithium in older stars is apparently caused by the "mixing" of lithium into the interior of stars, where it is destroyed,
while lithium is produced in younger stars. Although it
transmutes into two atoms of
helium
Helium (from el, ἥλιος, helios, lit=sun) is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. ...
due to collision with a
proton
A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' elementary charge. Its mass is slightly less than that of a neutron and 1,836 times the mass of an electron (the proton–electron mass ...
at temperatures above 2.4 million degrees Celsius (most stars easily attain this temperature in their interiors), lithium is more abundant than computations would predict in later-generation stars.
![Nova Centauri 2013 ESO](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Nova_Centauri_2013_ESO.jpg)
Lithium is also found in
brown dwarf
Brown dwarfs (also called failed stars) are substellar objects that are not massive enough to sustain nuclear fusion of ordinary hydrogen ( 1H) into helium in their cores, unlike a main-sequence star. Instead, they have a mass between the most ...
substellar objects and certain anomalous orange stars. Because lithium is present in cooler, less-massive brown dwarfs, but is destroyed in hotter
red dwarf
''Red Dwarf'' is a British science fiction comedy franchise created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, which primarily consists of a television sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999, and on Dave since 2009, gaining a cult following. T ...
stars, its presence in the stars' spectra can be used in the "lithium test" to differentiate the two, as both are smaller than the Sun.
Certain orange stars can also contain a high concentration of lithium. Those orange stars found to have a higher than usual concentration of lithium (such as
Centaurus X-4) orbit massive objects—neutron stars or black holes—whose gravity evidently pulls heavier lithium to the surface of a hydrogen-helium star, causing more lithium to be observed.
On 27 May 2020, astronomers reported that
classical nova
A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramat ...
explosions are galactic producers of lithium-7.
Terrestrial
Although lithium is widely distributed on Earth, it does not naturally occur in elemental form due to its high reactivity.
The total lithium content of seawater is very large and is estimated as 230 billion tonnes, where the element exists at a relatively constant concentration of 0.14 to 0.25 parts per million (ppm),
or 25
micromolar
Molar concentration (also called molarity, amount concentration or substance concentration) is a measure of the concentration of a chemical species, in particular of a solute in a solution, in terms of amount of substance per unit volume of sol ...
; higher concentrations approaching 7 ppm are found near
hydrothermal vents
A hydrothermal vent is a fissure on the seabed from which geothermally heated water discharges. They are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart at mid-ocean ridges, ocean basins, and hotspot ...
.
Estimates for the Earth's
crustal content range from 20 to 70 ppm by weight.
Lithium constitutes about 0.002 percent of Earth's crust. In keeping with its name, lithium forms a minor part of
igneous rock
Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word ''ignis'' meaning fire), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main The three types of rocks, rock types, the others being Sedimentary rock, sedimentary and metamorphic rock, metamorphic. Igneous rock ...
s, with the largest concentrations in
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
s. Granitic
pegmatite
A pegmatite is an igneous rock showing a very coarse texture, with large interlocking crystals usually greater in size than and sometimes greater than . Most pegmatites are composed of quartz, feldspar, and mica, having a similar silicic com ...
s also provide the greatest abundance of lithium-containing minerals, with
spodumene
Spodumene is a pyroxene mineral consisting of lithium aluminium inosilicate, Li Al( Si O3)2, and is a source of lithium. It occurs as colorless to yellowish, purplish, or lilac kunzite (see below), yellowish-green or emerald-green hiddenite, pri ...
and
petalite
Petalite, also known as castorite, is a lithium aluminum phyllosilicate mineral Li Al Si4 O10, crystallizing in the monoclinic system. Petalite occurs as colorless, pink, grey, yellow, yellow grey, to white tabular crystals and columnar masses. ...
being the most commercially viable sources.
Another significant mineral of lithium is
lepidolite
Lepidolite is a lilac-gray or rose-colored member of the mica group of minerals with chemical formula . It is the most abundant lithium-bearing mineral and is a secondary source of this metal. It is the major source of the alkali metal rubidium.
...
which is now an obsolete name for a series formed by polylithionite and trilithionite. A newer source for lithium is
hectorite
Hectorite is a rare soft, greasy, white clay mineral with a chemical formula of .
Hectorite was first described in 1941 and named for an occurrence in the United States near Hector (in San Bernardino County, California, 30 miles east of Barstow ...
clay, the only active development of which is through the Western Lithium Corporation in the United States. At 20 mg lithium per kg of Earth's crust, lithium is the 25th most abundant element.
According to the ''Handbook of Lithium and Natural Calcium'', "Lithium is a comparatively rare element, although it is found in many rocks and some brines, but always in very low concentrations. There are a fairly large number of both lithium mineral and brine deposits but only comparatively few of them are of actual or potential commercial value. Many are very small, others are too low in grade."
Chile is estimated (2020) to have the largest reserves by far (9.2 million tonnes),
and Australia the highest annual production (40,000 tonnes).
One of the largest ''reserve bases''
[Appendixes]
. By USGS definitions, the reserve base "may encompass those parts of the resources that have a reasonable potential for becoming economically available within planning horizons beyond those that assume proven technology and current economics. The reserve base includes those resources that are currently economic (reserves), marginally economic (marginal reserves), and some of those that are currently subeconomic (subeconomic resources)." of lithium is in the
Salar de Uyuni
Salar de Uyuni (or "Salar de Tunupa") is the world's largest salt flat, or playa, at over in area. It is in the Daniel Campos Province in Potosí in southwest Bolivia, near the crest of the Andes at an elevation of above sea level.
The Sal ...
area of Bolivia, which has 5.4 million tonnes. Other major suppliers include Australia, Argentina and China.
As of 2015, the
Czech Geological Survey
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
*Czech ...
considered the entire
Ore Mountains in the Czech Republic as lithium province. Five deposits are registered, one near is considered as a potentially economical deposit, with 160 000 tonnes of lithium. In December 2019, Finnish mining company Keliber Oy reported its Rapasaari lithium deposit has estimated proven and probable ore reserves of 5.280 million tonnes.
In June 2010, ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' reported that American geologists were conducting ground surveys on
dry salt lake
A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per litre). ...
s in western
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
believing that large deposits of lithium are located there. These estimates are "based principally on old data, which was gathered mainly by the
Soviets
Soviet people ( rus, сове́тский наро́д, r=sovyétsky naród), or citizens of the USSR ( rus, гра́ждане СССР, grázhdanye SSSR), was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union.
Nationality policy in th ...
during their
occupation of Afghanistan from 1979–1989". The
Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to:
Current departments of defence
* Department of Defence (Australia)
* Department of National Defence (Canada)
* Department of Defence (Ireland)
* Department of National Defense (Philipp ...
estimated the lithium reserves in Afghanistan to amount to the ones in Bolivia and dubbed it as a potential "Saudi-Arabia of lithium". In
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
, England, the presence of brine rich in lithium was well known due to the region's historic
mining industry
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...
, and private investors have conducted tests to investigate potential lithium extraction in this area.
Biological
Lithium is found in trace amount in numerous plants, plankton, and invertebrates, at concentrations of 69 to 5,760 parts per billion (ppb). In vertebrates the concentration is slightly lower, and nearly all vertebrate tissue and body fluids contain lithium ranging from 21 to 763 ppb.
Marine organisms tend to bioaccumulate lithium more than terrestrial organisms. Whether lithium has a physiological role in any of these organisms is unknown.
Studies of lithium concentrations in mineral-rich soil give ranges between around 0.1 and 50−100
ppm, with some concentrations as high as 100−400 ppm, although it is unlikely that all of it is available for uptake by
plant
Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...
s.
Lithium concentration in plant tissue is typically around 1
ppm, with some plant
families
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideall ...
bioaccumulating more lithium than others; lithium accumulation does not appear to affect the
essential nutrient
A nutrient is a substance used by an organism to survive, grow, and reproduce. The requirement for dietary nutrient intake applies to animals, plants, fungi, and protists. Nutrients can be incorporated into cells for metabolic purposes or excret ...
composition of plants.
Tolerance to lithium varies by plant species and typically parallels
sodium tolerance;
maize
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...
and
Rhodes grass
''Chloris gayana'' is a species of Poaceae, grass known by the common name Rhodes grass. It is native to Africa but it can be found throughout the tropical and subtropical world as a introduced species, naturalized species.
It can grow in many t ...
, for example, are highly tolerant to lithium injury while
avocado
The avocado (''Persea americana'') is a medium-sized, evergreen tree in the laurel family (Lauraceae). It is native to the Americas and was first domesticated by Mesoamerican tribes more than 5,000 years ago. Then as now it was prized for i ...
and
soybean
The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean, which has numerous uses.
Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, from which tofu an ...
are very sensitive.
Similarly, lithium at concentrations of 5 ppm reduces
seed germination
Germination is the process by which an organism grows from a seed or spore. The term is applied to the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of an flowering plant, angiosperm or gymnosperm, the growth of a sporeling from a spore, such as the spor ...
in some species (e.g.
Asian rice
''Oryza sativa'', commonly known as Asian rice or indica rice, is the plant species most commonly referred to in English as ''rice''. It is the type of farmed rice whose cultivars are most common globally, and was first domesticated in the Yan ...
and
chickpea
The chickpea or chick pea (''Cicer arietinum'') is an annual legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. Its different types are variously known as gram" or Bengal gram, garbanzo or garbanzo bean, or Egyptian pea. Chickpea seeds are high ...
) but not in others (e.g.
barley
Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...
and
wheat
Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
).
Many of lithium's major biological effects can be explained by its competition with other ions.
The
monovalent lithium
ion
An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge.
The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by conve ...
competes with other ions such as
sodium
Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na (from Latin ''natrium'') and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 of the periodic table. Its only stable iso ...
(immediately below lithium on the
periodic table
The periodic table, also known as the periodic table of the (chemical) elements, is a rows and columns arrangement of the chemical elements. It is widely used in chemistry, physics, and other sciences, and is generally seen as an icon of ch ...
), which like lithium is also a monovalent
alkali metal
The alkali metals consist of the chemical elements lithium (Li), sodium (Na), potassium (K),The symbols Na and K for sodium and potassium are derived from their Latin names, ''natrium'' and ''kalium''; these are still the origins of the names ...
.
Lithium also competes with
bivalent Bivalent may refer to:
* Bivalent (chemistry), a molecule formed from two or more atoms bound together
*Bivalent (engine), an engine that can operate on two different types of fuel
*Bivalent (genetics), a pair of homologous chromosomes
*Bivalent log ...
magnesium
Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 of the periodic ta ...
ions, whose
ionic radius
Ionic radius, ''r''ion, is the radius of a monatomic ion in an ionic crystal structure. Although neither atoms nor ions have sharp boundaries, they are treated as if they were hard spheres with radii such that the sum of ionic radii of the cation ...
(86
pm) is approximately that of the lithium ion
(90 pm).
Mechanisms that transport sodium across cellular membranes also transport lithium.
For instance,
sodium channel
Sodium channels are integral membrane proteins that form ion channels, conducting sodium ions (Na+) through a cell's membrane. They belong to the superfamily of cation channels and can be classified according to the trigger that opens the channel ...
s (both
voltage-gated
Voltage-gated ion channels are a class of transmembrane proteins that form ion channels that are activated by changes in the electrical membrane potential near the channel. The membrane potential alters the conformation of the channel proteins ...
and
epithelial
Epithelium or epithelial tissue is one of the four basic types of animal tissue, along with connective tissue, muscle tissue and nervous tissue. It is a thin, continuous, protective layer of compactly packed cells with a little intercellula ...
) are particularly major pathways of entry for lithium.
Lithium ions can also
permeate
In physics and engineering, permeation (also called imbuing) is the penetration of a permeate (a fluid such as a liquid, gas, or vapor) through a solid. It is directly related to the concentration gradient of the permeate, a material's intrins ...
through
ligand-gated ion channel
Ligand-gated ion channels (LICs, LGIC), also commonly referred to as ionotropic receptors, are a group of transmembrane ion-channel proteins which open to allow ions such as Na+, K+, Ca2+, and/or Cl− to pass through the membrane in res ...
s as well as cross both
nuclear
Nuclear may refer to:
Physics
Relating to the nucleus of the atom:
* Nuclear engineering
*Nuclear physics
*Nuclear power
*Nuclear reactor
*Nuclear weapon
*Nuclear medicine
*Radiation therapy
*Nuclear warfare
Mathematics
*Nuclear space
*Nuclear ...
and Mitochondrion, mitochondrial membranes.
Like sodium, lithium can enter and partially block (although not
permeate
In physics and engineering, permeation (also called imbuing) is the penetration of a permeate (a fluid such as a liquid, gas, or vapor) through a solid. It is directly related to the concentration gradient of the permeate, a material's intrins ...
) potassium channels and calcium channels.
The biological effects of lithium are many and varied but its Mechanism of action, mechanisms of action are only partially understood.
For instance, studies of Lithium (medication), lithium-treated patients with
bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...
show that, among many other effects, lithium partially reverses telomere Telomere shortening, shortening in these patients and also increases mitochondrial function, although how lithium produces these pharmacological effects is not understood.
Even the exact mechanisms involved in lithium toxicity are not fully understood.
History
![Arfwedson Johan A](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Arfwedson_Johan_A.jpg)
Petalite (LiAlSi
4O
10) was discovered in 1800 by the Brazilian chemist and statesman José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva in a mine on the island of Utö, Sweden, Utö, Sweden.
However, it was not until 1817 that Johan August Arfwedson, then working in the laboratory of the chemist Jöns Jakob Berzelius, discovery of the chemical elements, detected the presence of a new element while analyzing petalite ore.
This element formed compounds similar to those of
sodium
Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na (from Latin ''natrium'') and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 of the periodic table. Its only stable iso ...
and
potassium
Potassium is the chemical element with the symbol K (from Neo-Latin ''kalium'') and atomic number19. Potassium is a silvery-white metal that is soft enough to be cut with a knife with little force. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmosphe ...
, though its lithium carbonate, carbonate and lithium hydroxide, hydroxide were less solubility, soluble in water and less Base (chemistry), alkaline.
Berzelius gave the alkaline material the name "''lithion''/''lithina''", from the Greek word ''λιθoς'' (transliterated as ''lithos'', meaning "stone"), to reflect its discovery in a solid mineral, as opposed to potassium, which had been discovered in plant ashes, and sodium, which was known partly for its high abundance in animal blood. He named the metal inside the material "lithium".
Arfwedson later showed that this same element was present in the minerals
spodumene
Spodumene is a pyroxene mineral consisting of lithium aluminium inosilicate, Li Al( Si O3)2, and is a source of lithium. It occurs as colorless to yellowish, purplish, or lilac kunzite (see below), yellowish-green or emerald-green hiddenite, pri ...
and
lepidolite
Lepidolite is a lilac-gray or rose-colored member of the mica group of minerals with chemical formula . It is the most abundant lithium-bearing mineral and is a secondary source of this metal. It is the major source of the alkali metal rubidium.
...
.
In 1818, Christian Gmelin was the first to observe that lithium salts give a bright red color to flame.
However, both Arfwedson and Gmelin tried and failed to isolate the pure element from its salts.
It was not isolated until 1821, when William Thomas Brande obtained it by electrolysis of
lithium oxide
Lithium oxide ( O) or lithia is an inorganic chemical compound. It is a white solid. Although not specifically important, many materials are assessed on the basis of their Li2O content. For example, the Li2O content of the principal lithium miner ...
, a process that had previously been employed by the chemist Sir Humphry Davy to isolate the alkali metals potassium and sodium.
Brande also described some pure salts of lithium, such as the chloride, and, estimating that lithia (
lithium oxide
Lithium oxide ( O) or lithia is an inorganic chemical compound. It is a white solid. Although not specifically important, many materials are assessed on the basis of their Li2O content. For example, the Li2O content of the principal lithium miner ...
) contained about 55% metal, estimated the atomic weight of lithium to be around 9.8 g/mol (modern value ~6.94 g/mol). In 1855, larger quantities of lithium were produced through the electrolysis of
lithium chloride
Lithium chloride is a chemical compound with the formula Li Cl. The salt is a typical ionic compound (with certain covalent characteristics), although the small size of the Li+ ion gives rise to properties not seen for other alkali metal chlor ...
by Robert Bunsen and Augustus Matthiessen.
The discovery of this procedure led to commercial production of lithium in 1923 by the German company Metallgesellschaft AG, which performed an electrolysis of a liquid mixture of lithium chloride and
potassium chloride
Potassium chloride (KCl, or potassium salt) is a metal halide salt composed of potassium and chlorine. It is odorless and has a white or colorless vitreous crystal appearance. The solid dissolves readily in water, and its solutions have a salt ...
.
Australian psychiatrist John Cade is credited with reintroducing and popularizing the use of lithium to treat mania in 1949. Shortly after, throughout the mid 20th century, lithium's mood stabilizing applicability for mania and Depression (mood), depression took off in Europe and the United States.
The production and use of lithium underwent several drastic changes in history. The first major application of lithium was in high-temperature
lithium grease
Lithium soap is a soap consisting of a lithium salt of a fatty acid. Sodium-based and potassium-based soaps are used as cleaning agents in domestic and industrial applications, whereas lithium soaps are used as components of lithium grease (white ...
s for aircraft engines and similar applications in World War II and shortly after. This use was supported by the fact that lithium-based soaps have a higher melting point than other alkali soaps, and are less corrosive than calcium based soaps. The small demand for lithium soaps and lubricating greases was supported by several small mining operations, mostly in the US.
The demand for lithium increased dramatically during the Cold War with the production of Nuclear weapon design, nuclear fusion weapons. Both lithium-6 and lithium-7 produce tritium when irradiated by neutrons, and are thus useful for the production of tritium by itself, as well as a form of solid fusion fuel used inside hydrogen bombs in the form of
lithium deuteride
Lithium hydride is an inorganic compound with the formula Li H. This alkali metal hydride is a colorless solid, although commercial samples are grey. Characteristic of a salt-like (ionic) hydride, it has a high melting point, and it is not solub ...
. The US became the prime producer of lithium between the late 1950s and the mid-1980s. At the end, the stockpile of lithium was roughly 42,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide. The stockpiled lithium was depleted in lithium-6 by 75%, which was enough to affect the measured
atomic weight
Relative atomic mass (symbol: ''A''; sometimes abbreviated RAM or r.a.m.), also known by the deprecated synonym atomic weight, is a dimensionless physical quantity defined as the ratio of the average mass of atoms of a chemical element in a giv ...
of lithium in many standardized chemicals, and even the atomic weight of lithium in some "natural sources" of lithium ion which had been "contaminated" by lithium salts discharged from isotope separation facilities, which had found its way into ground water.
Lithium is used to decrease the melting temperature of glass and to improve the melting behavior of aluminium oxide in the Hall-Héroult process.
These two uses dominated the market until the middle of the 1990s. After the end of the nuclear arms race, the demand for lithium decreased and the sale of department of energy stockpiles on the open market further reduced prices.
In the mid-1990s, several companies started to isolate lithium from
brine
Brine is a high-concentration solution of salt (NaCl) in water (H2O). In diverse contexts, ''brine'' may refer to the salt solutions ranging from about 3.5% (a typical concentration of seawater, on the lower end of that of solutions used for br ...
which proved to be a less expensive option than underground or open-pit mining. Most of the mines closed or shifted their focus to other materials because only the ore from zoned pegmatites could be mined for a competitive price. For example, the US mines near Kings Mountain, North Carolina, Kings Mountain, North Carolina closed before the beginning of the 21st century.
The development of lithium ion batteries increased the demand for lithium and became the dominant use in 2007.
With the surge of lithium demand in batteries in the 2000s, new companies have expanded brine isolation efforts to meet the rising demand.
It has been argued that lithium will be one of the main objects of geopolitical competition in a world running on renewable energy and dependent on batteries, but this perspective has also been criticised for underestimating the power of economic incentives for expanded production.
Chemistry
Of lithium metal
Lithium reacts with water easily, but with noticeably less vigor than other alkali metals. The reaction forms
hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, an ...
gas and lithium hydroxide.
When placed over a flame, lithium compounds give off a striking crimson color, but when the metal burns strongly, the flame becomes a brilliant silver. Lithium will ignite and burn in oxygen when exposed to water or water vapor. In moist air, lithium rapidly tarnishes to form a black coating of lithium hydroxide (LiOH and LiOH·H
2O), lithium nitride (Li
3N) and lithium carbonate (Li
2CO
3, the result of a secondary reaction between LiOH and carbon dioxide, CO
2).
Lithium is one of the few metals that react with nitrogen gas.
Because of its reactivity with water, and especially nitrogen, lithium metal is usually stored in a hydrocarbon sealant, often petroleum jelly. Although the heavier alkali metals can be stored under mineral oil, lithium is not dense enough to fully submerge itself in these liquids.
Lithium has a diagonal relationship with
magnesium
Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 of the periodic ta ...
, an element of similar atomic and
ionic radius
Ionic radius, ''r''ion, is the radius of a monatomic ion in an ionic crystal structure. Although neither atoms nor ions have sharp boundaries, they are treated as if they were hard spheres with radii such that the sum of ionic radii of the cation ...
. Chemical resemblances between the two metals include the formation of a nitride by reaction with N
2, the formation of an lithium oxide, oxide () and peroxide () when burnt in O
2, salt (chemistry), salts with similar solubility, solubilities, and thermal instability of the carbonates and nitrides.
The metal reacts with hydrogen gas at high temperatures to produce lithium hydride (LiH).
Lithium forms a variety of binary and ternary materials by direct reaction with the main group elements. These Zintl phases, although highly covalent, can be viewed as salts of polyatomic anions such as Si
44-, P
73-, and Te
52-. With graphite, lithium forms a variety of intercalation compounds.
It dissolves in ammonia (and amines) to give [Li(NH
3)
4]
+ and the solvated electron.
Inorganic compounds
![Butyllithium-hexamer-from-xtal-3D-balls-A](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Butyllithium-hexamer-from-xtal-3D-balls-A.png)
Lithium forms salt-like derivatives with all halides and pseudohalides. Some examples include the halides lithium fluoride, LiF, lithium chloride, LiCl, lithium bromide, LiBr, Lithium iodide, LiI, as well as the pseudohalides and related anions. Lithium carbonate has been described as the most important compound of lithium.
This white solid is the principal product of beneficiation of lithium ores. It is a precursor to other salts including ceramics and materials for lithium batteries.
The compounds Lithium borohydride, and Lithium aluminium hydride, are useful reagents. These salts and many other lithium salts exhibit distinctively high solubility in ethers, in contrast with salts of heavier alkali metals.
In aqueous solution, the coordination complex [Li(H
2O)
4]
+ predominates for many lithium salts. Related complexes are known with amines and ethers.
Organic chemistry
Organolithium compounds are numerous and useful. They are defined by the presence of a covalent bond, bond between carbon and lithium. They serve as metal-stabilized carbanions, although their solution and solid-state structures are more complex than this simplistic view. Thus, these are extremely powerful base (chemistry), bases and carbon nucleophile, nucleophiles. They have also been applied in asymmetric synthesis in the pharmaceutical industry. For laboratory organic synthesis, many organolithium reagents are commercially available in solution form. These reagents are highly reactive, and are sometimes pyrophoricity, pyrophoric.
Like its inorganic compounds, almost all organic compounds of lithium formally follow the duet rule (e.g., BuLi, MeLi). However, it is important to note that in the absence of coordinating solvents or ligands, organolithium compounds form dimeric, tetrameric, and hexameric clusters (e.g., BuLi is actually [BuLi]
6 and MeLi is actually [MeLi]
4) which feature multi-center bonding and increase the coordination number around lithium. These clusters are broken down into smaller or monomeric units in the presence of solvents like dimethoxyethane (DME) or ligands like tetramethylethylenediamine (TMEDA). As an exception to the duet rule, a two-coordinate lithate complex with four electrons around lithium, [Li(thf)
4]
+[((Me
3Si)
3C)
2Li]
–, has been characterized crystallographically.
Production
Lithium production has greatly increased since the end of World War II. The main sources of lithium are
brine
Brine is a high-concentration solution of salt (NaCl) in water (H2O). In diverse contexts, ''brine'' may refer to the salt solutions ranging from about 3.5% (a typical concentration of seawater, on the lower end of that of solutions used for br ...
s and ores.
Lithium metal is produced through electrolysis applied to a mixture of fused 55%
lithium chloride
Lithium chloride is a chemical compound with the formula Li Cl. The salt is a typical ionic compound (with certain covalent characteristics), although the small size of the Li+ ion gives rise to properties not seen for other alkali metal chlor ...
and 45%
potassium chloride
Potassium chloride (KCl, or potassium salt) is a metal halide salt composed of potassium and chlorine. It is odorless and has a white or colorless vitreous crystal appearance. The solid dissolves readily in water, and its solutions have a salt ...
at about 450 °C.
Reserves and occurrence
![USGS-PP-1802k-K13](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/USGS-PP-1802k-K13.png)
The US Geological Survey (USGS) estimated worldwide identified lithium reserves in 2020 and 2021 to be 17 million and 21 million tonnes, respectively.
An accurate estimate of world lithium reserves is difficult.
One reason for this is that most lithium classification schemes are developed for solid ore deposits, whereas brine is a fluid that is problematic to treat with the same classification scheme due to varying concentrations and pumping effects.
Following a hike in lithium price in 2015 and concern for insufficiency of lithium resource for the growing lithium-ion battery industry, a peer-reviewed analysis of USGS data in 2017 predicted that there will be no shortage of lithium and current estimates of reserves will increase along with the demand.
Worldwide lithium resources identified by USGS started to increase in 2017 owing to continuing exploration. Identified resources in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 were 41, 47, 54, 62 and 80 million tonnes, respectively.
In 2013, the world was estimated to contain about 15 million tonnes of lithium reserves, while 65 million tonnes of known resources were reasonable. 75% of lithium reserves could be found in the ten largest Ore, deposits of the world.
Another study noted that 83% of the geological resources of lithium are located in six brine, two
pegmatite
A pegmatite is an igneous rock showing a very coarse texture, with large interlocking crystals usually greater in size than and sometimes greater than . Most pegmatites are composed of quartz, feldspar, and mica, having a similar silicic com ...
, and two Sedimentary rock, sedimentary deposits.
In the US, lithium is recovered from brine pools in Nevada.
A deposit discovered in 2013 in Wyoming's Rock Springs Uplift is estimated to contain 228,000 tons. Additional deposits in the same formation were estimated to be as much as 18 million tons. Similarly in Nevada, the McDermitt Caldera hosts lithium-bearing volcanic muds that consist of the largest known deposits of lithium within the United States.
Lithium triangle
The world's top four lithium-producing countries from 2019, as reported by the US Geological Survey are Economy of Australia, Australia, Chile, Economy of China, China and Economy of Argentina, Argentina.
The three countries of Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina make up a region known as the Lithium Triangle. The Lithium Triangle is known for its high-quality salt flats, which include Bolivia's
Salar de Uyuni
Salar de Uyuni (or "Salar de Tunupa") is the world's largest salt flat, or playa, at over in area. It is in the Daniel Campos Province in Potosí in southwest Bolivia, near the crest of the Andes at an elevation of above sea level.
The Sal ...
, Chile's Salar de Atacama, and Argentina's Salar de Arizaro. The Lithium Triangle is believed to contain over 75% of existing known lithium reserves. Deposits are also found in South America throughout the Andes mountain chain. Chile is the leading producer, followed by Argentina. Both countries recover lithium from brine pools. According to USGS, Bolivia's Uyuni Desert has 5.4 million tonnes of lithium.
Half the world's known reserves are located in Bolivia along the central eastern slope of the Andes. The Bolivian government has invested US$900 million and in 2021 successfully produced 540 tons
The brines in the salt pans of the Lithium Triangle vary widely in lithium content.
Concentrations can also vary in time as brines are fluids that are changeable and mobile.
Since 2018 the Mining industry of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo is known to have the largest lithium
spodumene
Spodumene is a pyroxene mineral consisting of lithium aluminium inosilicate, Li Al( Si O3)2, and is a source of lithium. It occurs as colorless to yellowish, purplish, or lilac kunzite (see below), yellowish-green or emerald-green hiddenite, pri ...
hard-rock deposit in the world. The deposit located in Manono, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Manono, Democratic Republic of the Congo, DRC, may hold up to 1.5 billion tons of lithium spodumene hard-rock. The two largest pegmatites (known as the Carriere de l'Este Pegmatite and the Roche Dure Pegmatite) are each of similar size or larger than the famous Greenbushes Pegmatite in Western Australia. Thus, the Mining industry of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo is expected to be a significant supplier of lithium to the world with its high grade and low impurities.
According to a later 2011 study by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California, Berkeley, the then-estimated reserve base of lithium should not be a limiting factor for large-scale battery production for electric vehicles because an estimated 1 billion 40 kWh Li-based batteries could be built with those reserves - about 10 kg of lithium per car. Another 2011 study at the University of Michigan and Ford Motor Company found enough resources to support global demand until 2100, including the lithium required for the potential widespread transportation use. The study estimated global reserves at 39 million tons, and total demand for lithium during the 90-year period annualized at 12–20 million tons, depending on the scenarios regarding economic growth and recycling rates.
In 2014, ''The Financialist'' stated that demand for lithium was growing at more than 12% a year. According to Credit Suisse, this rate exceeded projected availability by 25%. The publication compared the 2014 lithium situation with oil, whereby "higher oil prices spurred investment in expensive deepwater and oil sands production techniques"; that is, the price of lithium would continue to rise until more expensive production methods that could boost total output would receive the attention of investors.
On 16 July 2018 2.5 million tonnes of high-grade lithium resources and 124 million pounds of uranium resources were found in the Falchani hard rock deposit in the region Puno, Peru.
In 2020, Australia granted Major Project Status (MPS) to the Finniss Lithium Project for a strategically important lithium deposit: an estimated 3.45 million tonnes (Mt) of mineral resource at 1.4 percent
lithium oxide
Lithium oxide ( O) or lithia is an inorganic chemical compound. It is a white solid. Although not specifically important, many materials are assessed on the basis of their Li2O content. For example, the Li2O content of the principal lithium miner ...
.
[CORE Lithium : Finnis Lithium]
retrieved 13 October 2022 Operational mining began in 2022.
In 2019, world production of lithium from spodumene was around 80,000t per annum, primarily from the Greenbushes, Western Australia, Greenbushes pegmatite and from some China, Chinese and Chilean sources. The Talison mine in Greenbushes is reported to be the largest and to have the highest grade of ore at 2.4% Li
2O (2012 figures).
Oceans are estimated to contain 230 billion tons of lithium, but the concentration is 0.1-0.2ppm, making it more expensive to isolate with 2020 technology than from land based brine and rock.
Sources
Another potential source of lithium was identified as the leachates of Geothermal electricity, geothermal wells, which are carried to the surface.
[Parker, Ann]
Mining Geothermal Resources
. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Recovery of this type of lithium has been demonstrated in the field; the lithium is separated by simple filtration.
[Patel, P. (16 November 2011]
Startup to Capture Lithium from Geothermal Plants
technologyreview.com Reserves are more limited than those of brine reservoirs and hard rock.
Pricing
![Lithium prices](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Lithium_prices.webp)
In 1998, the price of lithium metal was about (or US$43/Pound (mass), lb).
After the Financial crisis of 2007–08, 2007 financial crisis, major suppliers, such as Sociedad Química y Minera (SQM), dropped lithium carbonate pricing by 20%. Prices rose in 2012. A 2012 Bloomberg Businessweek, Business Week article outlined an oligopoly in the lithium space: "SQM, controlled by billionaire Julio Ponce Lerou, Julio Ponce, is the second-largest, followed by Albemarle Corporation#Acquisition of Rockwood Holdings, Rockwood, which is backed by Henry Kravis, Henry Kravis’s KKR & Co., and Philadelphia-based FMC", with Talison Minerals, Talison mentioned as the biggest producer.
Global consumption may jump to 300,000 metric tons a year by 2020 from about 150,000 tons in 2012, to match the demand for lithium batteries that has been growing at about 25% a year, outpacing the 4% to 5% overall gain in lithium production.
The price information service ISE - Institute of Rare Earths Elements and Strategic Metals - gives for various lithium substances in the average of the last six months (March to August 2022) the following kilo prices stable in the course: Lithium Carbonate, purity 99.5%min, from various producers between 63 and 72 EUR/kg. Lithium Hydroxide Monohydrate LiOH 56.5%min, China, at 66 to 72 EUR/kg; Delivered South Korea - 73 EUR/kg. Lithium Metal 99.9%min, Delivered China - 42 EUR/kg.
Extraction
Lithium and its compounds were historically isolated and extracted from hard rock but by the 1990s mineral springs,
brine
Brine is a high-concentration solution of salt (NaCl) in water (H2O). In diverse contexts, ''brine'' may refer to the salt solutions ranging from about 3.5% (a typical concentration of seawater, on the lower end of that of solutions used for br ...
pools, and brine deposits had become the dominant source. Most of these were in Chile, Argentina and Bolivia.
Large lithium-clay deposits under development in the McDermitt caldera (Nevada, United States) require concentrated sulfuric acid to leach lithium from the clay ore.
By early 2021, much of the lithium mined globally comes from either "
spodumene
Spodumene is a pyroxene mineral consisting of lithium aluminium inosilicate, Li Al( Si O3)2, and is a source of lithium. It occurs as colorless to yellowish, purplish, or lilac kunzite (see below), yellowish-green or emerald-green hiddenite, pri ...
, the mineral contained in hard rocks found in places such as Australia and North Carolina"
or from the salty brine pumped directly out of the ground, as it is in locations in Chile.
In Chile's Salar de Atacama, the lithium concentration in the brine is raised by solar evaporation in a system of ponds.
[ The enrichment by evaporation process may require up to one-and-a-half years, when the brine reaches a lithium content of 6%.][ The final processing in this example is done near the city of Antofagasta on the coast where pure lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, and ]lithium chloride
Lithium chloride is a chemical compound with the formula Li Cl. The salt is a typical ionic compound (with certain covalent characteristics), although the small size of the Li+ ion gives rise to properties not seen for other alkali metal chlor ...
are produced from the brine.[
Low-Lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxides, cobalt cathodes for lithium batteries are expected to require lithium hydroxide rather than lithium carbonate as a feedstock, and this trend favors rock as a source.
The use of electrodialysis and electrochemical intercalation has been proposed to extract lithium compounds from seawater (which contains lithium at 0.2 parts per million), but it is not yet commercially viable.
]
Environmental issues
The manufacturing processes of lithium, including the solvent and mining waste, presents significant environmental and health hazards.
Lithium extraction can be fatal to aquatic life due to water pollution. It is known to cause surface water contamination, drinking water contamination, respiratory problems, ecosystem degradation and landscape damage. It also leads to unsustainable water consumption in arid regions (1.9 million liters per ton of lithium). Massive byproduct generation of lithium extraction also presents unsolved problems, such as large amounts of magnesium
Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 of the periodic ta ...
and Lime (material), lime waste.
In the United States, there is active competition between environmentally catastrophic open-pit mining, mountaintop removal mining and less damaging Brine mining, brine extraction mining in an effort to drastically expand domestic lithium mining capacity. Environmental concerns include wildlife habitat degradation, potable water pollution including arsenic and antimony contamination, unsustainable water table reduction, and massive mining waste, including radioactive uranium byproduct and sulfuric acid discharge.
Human rights issues
A study of relationships between lithium extraction companies and indigenous peoples in Argentina indicated that the state may not have protected indigenous peoples' right to Free, prior and informed consent, free prior and informed consent, and that extraction companies generally controlled community access to information and set the terms for discussion of the projects and benefit sharing.
Development of the Thacker Pass Lithium Mine, Thacker Pass lithium mine in Nevada, United States, has met with protests and lawsuits from several indigenous tribes who have said they were not provided free prior and informed consent and that the project threatens cultural and sacred sites. They have also expressed concerns that development of the project will create risks to indigenous women, because resource extraction is linked to Missing and murdered Indigenous women, missing and murdered indigenous women. Protestors have been occupying the site of the proposed mine since January, 2021.
Applications
Batteries
In 2021, most lithium is used to make lithium-ion batteries for electric cars and mobile devices.
Ceramics and glass
Lithium oxide is widely used as a Flux (metallurgy), flux for processing silica, reducing the melting point
The melting point (or, rarely, liquefaction point) of a substance is the temperature at which it changes state from solid to liquid. At the melting point the solid and liquid phase exist in equilibrium. The melting point of a substance depends ...
and viscosity of the material and leading to ceramic glaze, glazes with improved physical properties including low coefficients of thermal expansion. Worldwide, this is one of the largest use for lithium compounds. Glazes containing lithium oxides are used for ovenware. Lithium carbonate (Li2CO3) is generally used in this application because it converts to the oxide upon heating.
Electrical and electronic
Late in the 20th century, lithium became an important component of battery electrolytes and electrodes, because of its high electrode potential. Because of its low atomic mass, it has a high charge- and power-to-weight ratio. A typical lithium-ion battery can generate approximately 3 volts per cell, compared with 2.1 volts for lead–acid battery, lead-acid and 1.5 volts for zinc-carbon cell, zinc-carbon. Lithium-ion batteries, which are rechargeable and have a high energy density, differ from lithium metal batteries, which are disposable (primary cell, primary) Battery (electricity), batteries with lithium or its compounds as the anode. Other rechargeable batteries that use lithium include the lithium-ion polymer battery, lithium iron phosphate battery, and the nanowire battery.
Over the years opinions have been differing about potential growth. A 2008 study concluded that "realistically achievable lithium carbonate production would be sufficient for only a small fraction of future PHEV and electric vehicle, EV global market requirements", that "demand from the portable electronics sector will absorb much of the planned production increases in the next decade", and that "mass production of lithium carbonate is not environmentally sound, it will cause irreparable ecological damage to ecosystems that should be protected and that LiIon propulsion is incompatible with the notion of the 'Green Car'".
Lubricating greases
The third most common use of lithium is in greases. Lithium hydroxide is a strong base (chemistry), base and, when heated with a fat, produces a soap made of lithium stearate. Lithium soap has the ability to thickening agent, thicken oils, and it is used to manufacture all-purpose, high-temperature grease (lubricant), lubricating greases.
Metallurgy
Lithium (e.g. as lithium carbonate) is used as an additive to continuous casting mould flux slags where it increases fluidity, a use which accounts for 5% of global lithium use (2011). Lithium compounds are also used as additives (fluxes) to foundry sand for iron casting to reduce veining.
Lithium (as lithium fluoride) is used as an additive to aluminium smelters (Hall–Héroult process), reducing melting temperature and increasing electrical resistance, a use which accounts for 3% of production (2011).
When used as a flux (metallurgy), flux for welding or soldering, metallic lithium promotes the fusing of metals during the process and eliminates the forming of oxides by absorbing impurities. Alloys of the metal with aluminium, cadmium, copper and manganese are used to make high-performance, low density aircraft parts (see also Al-Li, Lithium-aluminium alloys).
Silicon nano-welding
Lithium has been found effective in assisting the perfection of silicon nano-welds in electronic components for electric batteries and other devices.
Pyrotechnics
Lithium compounds are used as pyrotechnic colorants and oxidizers in red fireworks and Flare (pyrotechnic), flares.
Air purification
Lithium chloride and lithium bromide are hygroscopic and are used as desiccants for gas streams. Lithium hydroxide and lithium peroxide are the salts most used in confined areas, such as aboard spacecraft and submarines, for carbon dioxide removal and air purification. Lithium hydroxide absorbs carbon dioxide from the air by forming lithium carbonate, and is preferred over other alkaline hydroxides for its low weight.
Lithium peroxide (Li2O2) in presence of moisture not only reacts with carbon dioxide to form lithium carbonate, but also releases oxygen. The reaction is as follows:
:2 Li2O2 + 2 CO2 → 2 Li2CO3 + O2.
Some of the aforementioned compounds, as well as lithium perchlorate, are used in Chemical oxygen generator#Oxygen candle, oxygen candles that supply submarines with oxygen. These can also include small amounts of boron, magnesium
Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 of the periodic ta ...
, aluminum, silicon, titanium, manganese, and iron
Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...
.
Optics
Lithium fluoride, artificially grown as crystal, is clear and transparent and often used in specialist optics for infrared, IR, ultraviolet, UV and VUV (vacuum UV) applications. It has one of the lowest refractive indexes and the furthest transmission range in the deep UV of most common materials. Finely divided lithium fluoride powder has been used for Thermoluminescent Dosimeter, thermoluminescent radiation dosimetry (TLD): when a sample of such is exposed to radiation, it accumulates crystal defects which, when heated, resolve via a release of bluish light whose intensity is proportional to the absorbed dose, thus allowing this to be quantified. Lithium fluoride is sometimes used in focal lenses of telescopes.
The high non-linearity of lithium niobate also makes it useful in nonlinear optics, non-linear optics applications. It is used extensively in telecommunication products such as mobile phones and optical modulators, for such components as crystal oscillator, resonant crystals. Lithium applications are used in more than 60% of mobile phones.
Organic and polymer chemistry
Organolithium compounds are widely used in the production of polymer and fine-chemicals. In the polymer industry, which is the dominant consumer of these reagents, alkyl lithium compounds are catalysts/radical initiator, initiators. in Anionic addition polymerization, anionic polymerization of functional group, unfunctionalized olefins. For the production of fine chemicals, organolithium compounds function as strong bases and as reagents for the formation of carbon-carbon bonds. Organolithium compounds are prepared from lithium metal and alkyl halides.
Many other lithium compounds are used as reagents to prepare organic compounds. Some popular compounds include lithium aluminium hydride (LiAlH4), lithium triethylborohydride, n-butyllithium and tert-butyllithium.
Military
Metallic lithium and its complex hydrides, such as lithium aluminium hydride, Li[AlH4], are used as high-energy additives to rocket propellants. Lithium aluminum hydride can also be used by itself as a solid fuel.
The Mark 50 torpedo stored chemical energy propulsion system (SCEPS) uses a small tank of sulfur hexafluoride, which is sprayed over a block of solid lithium. The reaction generates heat, creating steam to propel the torpedo in a closed Rankine cycle.
Lithium hydride containing lithium-6 is used in thermonuclear weapons, where it serves as fuel for the fusion stage of the bomb.
Nuclear
Lithium-6 is valued as a source material for tritium production and as a neutron absorber in nuclear fusion. Natural lithium contains about 7.5% lithium-6 from which large amounts of lithium-6 have been produced by isotope separation for use in nuclear weapons. Lithium-7 gained interest for use in nuclear reactor coolant
A coolant is a substance, typically liquid, that is used to reduce or regulate the temperature of a system. An ideal coolant has high thermal capacity, low viscosity, is low-cost, non-toxic, chemically inert and neither causes nor promotes corrosio ...
s.
Lithium deuteride was the nuclear fusion, fusion fuel of choice in early versions of the Nuclear weapon, hydrogen bomb. When bombarded by neutrons, both 6Li and 7Li produce tritium — this reaction, which was not fully understood when Teller-Ulam design, hydrogen bombs were first tested, was responsible for the runaway yield of the Castle Bravo nuclear test. Tritium fuses with deuterium
Deuterium (or hydrogen-2, symbol or deuterium, also known as heavy hydrogen) is one of two Stable isotope ratio, stable isotopes of hydrogen (the other being Hydrogen atom, protium, or hydrogen-1). The atomic nucleus, nucleus of a deuterium ato ...
in a Nuclear fusion, fusion reaction that is relatively easy to achieve. Although details remain secret, lithium-6 deuteride apparently still plays a role in modern nuclear weapons as a fusion material.
Lithium fluoride, when highly enriched in the lithium-7 isotope, forms the basic constituent of the fluoride salt mixture LiF-beryllium fluoride, BeF2 used in molten salt reactor, liquid fluoride nuclear reactors. Lithium fluoride is exceptionally chemically stable and LiF-BeF2 mixtures have low melting points. In addition, 7Li, Be, and F are among the few nuclide
A nuclide (or nucleide, from nucleus, also known as nuclear species) is a class of atoms characterized by their number of protons, ''Z'', their number of neutrons, ''N'', and their nuclear energy state.
The word ''nuclide'' was coined by Truman ...
s with low enough neutron cross-section, thermal neutron capture cross-sections not to poison the fission reactions inside a nuclear fission reactor.[Beryllium and fluorine occur only as one isotope, 9Be and 19F respectively. These two, together with 7Li, as well as deuterium, 2H, 11B, 15N, 209Bi, and the stable isotopes of C, and O, are the only nuclides with low enough thermal neutron capture cross sections aside from actinides to serve as major constituents of a molten salt breeder reactor fuel.]
In conceptualized (hypothetical) nuclear fusion power plants, lithium will be used to produce tritium in Magnetic confinement fusion, magnetically confined reactors using deuterium
Deuterium (or hydrogen-2, symbol or deuterium, also known as heavy hydrogen) is one of two Stable isotope ratio, stable isotopes of hydrogen (the other being Hydrogen atom, protium, or hydrogen-1). The atomic nucleus, nucleus of a deuterium ato ...
and tritium as the fuel. Naturally occurring tritium is extremely rare, and must be synthetically produced by surrounding the reacting Plasma (physics), plasma with a 'blanket' containing lithium where neutrons from the deuterium-tritium reaction in the plasma will fission the lithium to produce more tritium:
:6Li + n → 4He + 3H.
Lithium is also used as a source for alpha particles, or helium
Helium (from el, ἥλιος, helios, lit=sun) is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. ...
nuclei. When 7Li is bombarded by accelerated proton
A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' elementary charge. Its mass is slightly less than that of a neutron and 1,836 times the mass of an electron (the proton–electron mass ...
s 8beryllium, Be is formed, which almost immediately undergoes fission to form two alpha particles. This feat, called "splitting the atom" at the time, was the first fully man-made nuclear reaction
In nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, a nuclear reaction is a process in which two atomic nucleus, nuclei, or a nucleus and an external subatomic particle, collide to produce one or more new nuclides. Thus, a nuclear reaction must cause a t ...
. It was produced by John Douglas Cockcroft, Cockroft and Ernest Walton, Walton in 1932.
In 2013, the US Government Accountability Office said a shortage of lithium-7 critical to the operation of 65 out of 100 American nuclear reactors "places their ability to continue to provide electricity at some risk". Castle Bravo first used lithium-7, in the ''Shrimp'', its first device, which weighed only 10 tons, and generated massive nuclear atmospheric contamination of Bikini Atoll. This perhaps accounts for the decline of US nuclear infrastructure. The equipment needed to separate lithium-6 from lithium-7 is mostly a cold war leftover. The US shut down most of this machinery in 1963, when it had a huge surplus of separated lithium, mostly consumed during the twentieth century. The report said it would take five years and $10 million to $12 million to reestablish the ability to separate lithium-6 from lithium-7.
Reactors that use lithium-7 heat water under high pressure and transfer heat through heat exchangers that are prone to corrosion. The reactors use lithium to counteract the corrosive effects of boric acid, which is added to the water to absorb excess neutrons.
Medicine
Lithium is useful in the treatment of bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...
. Lithium salts may also be helpful for related diagnoses, such as schizoaffective disorder and cyclic major depression. The active part of these salts is the lithium ion Li+. Lithium may increase the risk of developing Ebstein's anomaly, Ebstein's cardiac anomaly in infants born to women who take lithium during the first trimester of pregnancy.
A 2022 review indicated that lithium therapy during treatment of bipolar disorder does not affect body weight.
Precautions
Lithium metal is corrosive and requires special handling to avoid skin contact. Breathing lithium dust or lithium compounds (which are often alkaline) initially irritation, irritate the human nose, nose and throat, while higher exposure can cause a buildup of fluid in the lungs, leading to pulmonary edema. The metal itself is a handling hazard because contact with moisture produces the Corrosive substance, caustic lithium hydroxide. Lithium is safely stored in non-reactive compounds such as naphtha.
See also
* Cosmological lithium problem
* Dilithium
* Halo nucleus
* Isotopes of lithium
* List of countries by lithium production
* Lithia water
* Lithium–air battery
* Lithium burning
* :Lithium compounds, Lithium compounds (category)
* Lithium-ion battery
* Lithium Tokamak Experiment
Notes
References
External links
McKinsey review of 2018
at ''The Periodic Table of Videos'' (University of Nottingham)
International Lithium Alliance
USGS: Lithium Statistics and Information
Lithium Supply & Markets 2009 IM Conference 2009 Sustainable lithium supplies through 2020 in the face of sustainable market growth
University of Southampton, Mountbatten Centre for International Studies, Nuclear History Working Paper No5.
Lithium preserves by Country at investingnews.com
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Lithium,
Chemical elements
Alkali metals
Reducing agents
Chemical elements with body-centered cubic structure