A collection of seven technologies for lithium recovery developed by scientists from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been licensed to Element3, a Texas-based company focused on extracting lithium from wastewater produced by oil and gas production.
The technologies were developed through the Critical Materials Innovation Hub, a DOE Energy Innovation Hub led by Ames National Laboratory that is dedicated to accelerating scientific and technological solutions to ensure secure domestic supply chains for critical minerals and materials.
Lithium-ion batteries power electric vehicles, consumer electronics and defense technologies, as well as providing energy storage for the nation’s power grid. The worldwide lithium battery market is projected to grow by a factor of 5 to 10 in the next decade.
“It is critically important to the United States economy and national security that domestic sources for lithium — both raw and refined — are developed,” said ORNL’s Cynthia Jenks, associate laboratory director for the Physical Sciences Directorate.
Parans Paranthaman is an ORNL Corporate Fellow and has led several CMI projects. He has spent many years investigating alternative sources of lithium, such as the waste brine generated by geothermal power plants and boron mine tailings.
“Less than 2% of our lithium comes from the U.S. and Canada, while the demand for lithium batteries for electric cars continues to grow,” he said. “To alleviate supply chain shortages, we need alternative sources of lithium.”
The technologies licensed to Element3 include membrane extraction techniques and new separation methods. The team of inventors behind the technologies includes ORNL’s Ramesh Bhave, Syed Islam, Jayanthi Kumar, Bruce Moyer, Paranthaman and Ilja Popovs. Former ORNL scientists Vishwanath Deshmane, Nicholas Linneen, Mary Healy, Tej Lamichhane and Henry Musrock also contributed to the technologies.
Link to the full story: Seven ORNL inventions licensed to Texas-based lithium recovery firm
