New Desalination Process Could Extract Vital Battery Material: Lithium

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New Desalination Process Could Extract Vital Battery Material: Lithium

Lithium is found in seawater and in some groundwater. A new filtering material could be used in desalination to extract lithium, potentially offsetting the high cost of producing freshwater from the ocean, says University of Texas chemical engineer Benny Freeman.

There’s a solution in the works that could yield large quantities of lithium as a byproduct of seawater desalination. The process is being developed by researchers at Monash University in Australia and the University of Texas at Austin. It uses something called a metal-organic framework (MOF) – a sponge-like complex of materials with special filtering properties. (Water Deeply recently reported on a MOF that extracts water from desert air.)

With lithium currently worth about $100 a pound, it could significantly offset the high cost of seawater desalination, helping produce important new supplies of freshwater for a thirsty planet. It would also work with the briney wastewater generated by oil and gas wells (known as produced water), which is now often injected back underground.

Water Deeply spoke with Benny Freeman, a co-investigator on the project and a professor of chemical engineering at the University of Texas.

Read full interview: Water Deeply

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