Facts About Lithium 

Did you know?!

• Lithium is the lightest and least dense solid element in the periodic table.
• In its metallic form lithium is a soft silvery-grey metal with good heat and electric conductivity enabling it to store and transmit energy
• Lithium has high electrode potential. Due to its low atomic mass, it has a high charge and power-to-weight ratio, making it well suited to rechargeable batteries.
• The soft drink 7-Up started life as Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon- Lime Soda when it was launched in 1929. The drink’s creator Charles Leiper Grigg claimed the soda, which contained lithium citrate, had the power to improve the mood of the imbiber. The United States Food and Drug Administration banned the use of lithium citrate in beverages in 1948.

• Lithium grease was invented around 1940 and was found to be superior to existing sodium and calcium-based greases. It found widespread industrial use in aircraft engines during the 1940s and is still widely used today.
• Industrial applications include the use of lithium as an additive in aluminum smelting and in the manufacture of high-strength glass-ceramic products including the induction cook tops in many kitchens, tough glass, fiberglass, ceramic frits, and even ceramic dentures. Other uses include air conditioning and polymer catalysts.
• Lithium first entered the modern era when, during the 1970s oil crisis, the English chemist Stanley Whittingham developed a rechargeable battery using lithium and titanium.
• Key breakthrough in lithium battery technology came in 1985 when Akira Yoshino, a Japanese chemist, developed carbon-based anodes and a non-aqueous electrolyte, leading to a stable, reliable and high-powered lithium-ion battery (LIB), which Sony then commercialized.
• A LIB is a rechargeable battery in which lithium ions move from the negative electrode (anode) to the positive electrode (cathode) during discharge, and back when charging. LIBs have good energy- to-weight ratios, high open circuit voltage, low self-discharge rate, no memory effect and a slow loss of charge when not in use. In addition to consumer electronics, LIBs are used in military and electric vehicle and aerospace applications due to their high energy density.
• As the world moves toward net zero around 85% of lithium extracted today is used in LIBs, including to power electric vehicles and renewable energy grid storage solutions.