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You know how EVs and practically anything else that runs on lithium batteries aren’t really all that ‘green’ because producing lithium takes a huge toll on the planet?Continue ReadingCategory: Materials, ScienceTags: Lithium metal, Mining, Metals Continue reading Stanford breakthrough promises 50% cheaper, cleaner lithium extraction
Lithium is a finite resource, and the more we lock inside rechargeable batteries, the less we have to use. A new speedy method to free the element from such sources could be a game changer in terms of the material’s availability.Continue ReadingCategor… Continue reading Microwave technique recovers 87% of batteries’ lithium in 15 minutes
Thanks to the increase of electric vehicles and other battery-using technologies, the demand for lithium is expected to skyrocket in the coming years. One odd but potent source of the metal is a Pennsylvania wastewater stream, says a new study.Continue… Continue reading 40% of US lithium needs could come from unlikely source in Pennsylvania
Nano-engineering happens all day long in our bodies, and California startup Aether is designing and testing millions of new enzymes to do a range of other useful tasks – like directly extracting battery-grade lithium from sources nobody else can use.Co… Continue reading Aether’s nano-machines: From super-cheap lithium to brand new molecules
Canadian company Volt Lithium has developed and pilot-tested a new low-cost lithium extraction method to pull this critical battery metal out of low-concentration brines. Now it plans to turn old oil fields into lithium production operations.Continue R… Continue reading Fast, low-cost direct lithium extraction could avert a supply crisis
Tesla’s 4680 cells, for comparison, measure somewhere between 244-296 Wh/kg. So the extreme-density cells recently tested in Beijing represent a huge leap forward from the status quo – even if they’re solely focused on maximizing a single metric.Contin… Continue reading Chinese scientists push lithium batteries up to a record 711 Wh/kg
While consumers of crabs know just what the core of a crustacean has to offer, scientists are increasingly looking at the animal’s exoskeleton for novel medicine and biotechnology.Continue ReadingCategory: TechnologyTags: Lithium metal, Batteries, Sust… Continue reading Crabs give scientists a leg up in cheap rechargeable battery design
Next-generation batteries could take on many forms, but one design that scientists are pinning a lot of hope on involves the use of lithium metal. The excellent energy density of this material could see batteries power smartphones for days at a time, a… Continue reading Magnetically stirred electrolyte puts high-density batteries in the mix
The field of battery research is riddled with roadblocks and bottlenecks, but there is one problem that rears its head more than most. Branch-like growths called dendrites continue to plague next-gen battery designs of many types, but new MIT-led resea… Continue reading MIT advance paves way for high-density batteries that handle stress
As the world rushes toward “the greatest disconnect between supply and demand in the history of commodities,” Snow Lake Lithium CEO Philip Gross talks us through his company’s plans to open the world’s first all-electric lithium mine in Canada.Continue… Continue reading World’s first electric lithium mine: Birth of an American supply chain