Growing Demand For Lithium:
With the EV industry growing rapidly, the demand for lithium, an essential resource for EV battery makers, has surged along.
- It is estimated that if the entirety of ore from the African mines are extracted, it will be sufficient to meet the demand for at least 27.78 million vehicles with 60 kWh batteries.
- Lithium is a soft, silvery-white metal. Under standard conditions, it is the lightest metal and the lightest solid element.
- It is highly reactive and flammable, and must be stored in mineral oil. It is an alkali metal and a rare metal.
Key Characteristics and Properties:
- It has the highest specific heat capacity of any solid element.
- Lithium’s single balance electron allows it to be a good conductor of electricity.
- It is flammable and can even explode when exposed to air and water.
Uses:
- Lithium is a key element for new technologies and finds its use in ceramics, glass, telecommunication and aerospace industries.
- The well-known uses of Lithium are in Lithium ion batteries, lubricating grease, high energy additive to rocket propellants, optical modulators for mobile phones and as convertor to tritium used as a raw material for thermonuclear reactions i.e. fusion.
