Ceramic could help slash lithium extraction costs by as much as 80%

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"Now researchers ... have added a layer of the ceramic Li6.4La3Zr1.4Ta0.6O12 (LLZTO) ... to the cell. As only lithium ions can pass through the LLZTO, the researchers could work with unpurified lithium chloride, leaving impurities behind in the molten salt. Better still, the researchers can even add aluminium chloride to the molten salt without risk of aluminium metal being deposited at the cathode. This conferred two key advantages: first, the melting point of the lithium and aluminium chloride mixture was much lower, allowing them to save energy by operating the cell at 240˚C rather than the usual 400˚C. Secondly, it allowed them to prevent the production of chlorine gas simply by using aluminium as the anode material, as any chloride ions oxidised simply produced more aluminium chloride."

Ceramic could help slash lithium extraction costs by as much as 80% | Research | Chemistry World: New technology removes need for high temperatures and toxic reagents