Online lecture by Petra Schultheiß-Reimann on 20 June 2023, 3 pm

Moderation: Eva Wille

The largest deposits of lithium are found in the Andes in Latin America. The rare metal lithium has become increasingly important in recent decades because of the batteries in mobile electrical devices such as smartphones, laptops and, above all, electric cars. Lithium is found on earth in so-called salars as brine and in ore deposits in the form of pegmatite. The brines are processed by water evaporation and precipitation due to the different solubilities of the salts found in the lakes. The lithium carbonate obtained in technical quality can be filled into bags, shipped and easily processed. The most important application of lithium is the lithium-ion battery. Lithium itself is produced from lithium chloride using fused-salt electrolysis. Will lithium deposits be sufficient in the future? That is why it is important to develop technologies to recycle raw materials. There are now interesting developments, one from Evonik will be presented in conclusion.