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HoldMyCarbonCredits while we make the Salton Sea a SuperFund-Site! [0] --- Anyone know how recoverable Lithium is from Lithium batts? Does the Lithium degrade

HoldMyCarbonCredits while we make the Salton Sea a SuperFund-Site! [0] --- Anyone know how recoverable Lithium is from Lithium batts? Does the Lithium degrade/denature/deconstruct over time in all lithium batteries? How bad for the environment is all the Lithium we are throwing out with all these used up batteries? [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Superfund_sites https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Superfund_sites

parsecs 5y ago
There is only a tiny bit of lithium in lithium batteries, afaik.
nitrogen 5y ago
Lithium is everywhere, especially in salt lakes. A long time ago I met someone whose family ran a mineral extraction company, of which there are many around Salt Lake City. They take the lake water and evaporate it. The main non-water ingredient in the concentrated brine was lithium. (Though the guy was drinking the stuff as a supplement, which probably affected his personality a bit)
- antisthenes 5y ago
  That tidbit about drinking it is the most interesting part of this whole thread! Are they the same lithium salts that are prescribed as medication for certain psychological disorders?
  - _Nat_ 5y ago
    Yup! Dunno if modern medications may also include other active-ingredients to compliment lithium, but lithium itself is pretty much the same thing as sodium or potassium in terms of its simplicity as a chemical species. Since lithium has a +1 charge as a cation (positively charged ion) in salt, it needs to be balanced with an anion (negatively charged ion), so the exact salt can vary in solid-form. But once it dissolves in water, such as in the body, then it's not really bound to the anion anymore and so the exact anion it was originally ingested with isn't particularly important. Apparently some people used to drink [mineral water with lithium](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithia_water https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithia_water). Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_(medication) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_(medication)
    - learc83 5y ago
      I grew up in Lithia Springs. They still bottle and sell the water from the spring.
    - jdavis703 5y ago
      No, the drug lithium carbonate is just that. It’s literally a powder that comes in a capsule.
      - deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
sdenton4 5y ago
lithium recovery: https://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3421&context=utk_chanhonoproj https://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3421... Seems possible; not sure of economic value at this particular point in history. There's a bunch of recent headlines about trivial extraction of lithium from seawater, so might get less economically feasible if those techs pan out. OTOH, even if it's not obviously worth it, you could try burying it all in one place and then 'mine' it once the economics swing towards recovery.
ashtonkem 5y ago
Elements tend to not degrade quickly outside of nuclear reactors as a general rule.
Tagbert 5y ago
The first thing recovered from salvaged batteries will be the cobalt and similar materials in the electrodes. Those are much less plentiful than lithium.

parsecs 5y ago

There is only a tiny bit of lithium in lithium batteries, afaik.

nitrogen 5y ago

Lithium is everywhere, especially in salt lakes. A long time ago I met someone whose family ran a mineral extraction company, of which there are many around Salt Lake City. They take the lake water and evaporate it. The main non-water ingredient in the concentrated brine was lithium. (Though the guy was drinking the stuff as a supplement, which probably affected his personality a bit)

antisthenes 5y ago
That tidbit about drinking it is the most interesting part of this whole thread! Are they the same lithium salts that are prescribed as medication for certain psychological disorders?
- _Nat_ 5y ago
  Yup! Dunno if modern medications may also include other active-ingredients to compliment lithium, but lithium itself is pretty much the same thing as sodium or potassium in terms of its simplicity as a chemical species. Since lithium has a +1 charge as a cation (positively charged ion) in salt, it needs to be balanced with an anion (negatively charged ion), so the exact salt can vary in solid-form. But once it dissolves in water, such as in the body, then it's not really bound to the anion anymore and so the exact anion it was originally ingested with isn't particularly important. Apparently some people used to drink [mineral water with lithium](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithia_water https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithia_water). Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_(medication) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_(medication)
  - learc83 5y ago
    I grew up in Lithia Springs. They still bottle and sell the water from the spring.
  - jdavis703 5y ago
    No, the drug lithium carbonate is just that. It’s literally a powder that comes in a capsule.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]

sdenton4 5y ago

lithium recovery: https://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3421&context=utk_chanhonoproj https://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3421... Seems possible; not sure of economic value at this particular point in history. There's a bunch of recent headlines about trivial extraction of lithium from seawater, so might get less economically feasible if those techs pan out. OTOH, even if it's not obviously worth it, you could try burying it all in one place and then 'mine' it once the economics swing towards recovery.

ashtonkem 5y ago

Elements tend to not degrade quickly outside of nuclear reactors as a general rule.

Tagbert 5y ago

The first thing recovered from salvaged batteries will be the cobalt and similar materials in the electrodes. Those are much less plentiful than lithium.