10 Fascinating Insights About Lithium

Lithium is one of the tiniest and most ancient elements, yet it has become crucial in solving complex problems. It's an essential component in the batteries that power devices like smartphones, laptops, and electric vehicles. Beyond that, it has emerged as one of the most powerful treatments for bipolar disorder, with recent studies suggesting it might hold the key to understanding the origins of this condition.

1. THE PIONEER WHO DISCOVERED LITHIUM LEFT SCIENCE NOT LONG AFTERWARDS.

In 1800, Brazilian naturalist José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva stumbled upon petalite, a rare gem-quality mineral from granite, on the island of Utö, Sweden. He discovered the rock had a peculiar property: when exposed to fire, it emitted brilliant crimson flames. In 1817, a 25-year-old Swedish aristocrat-turned-chemist, Johan August Arfvedson, identified lithium while studying petalite. By process of elimination, Arfvedson recognized that the red flames were caused by a new alkali metal, which made up the remaining component of the mineral. This was Arfvedson's only documented discovery, as he soon retired from chemistry to manage his wealth.

Lithium was later extracted in its pure metal form using electricity. This method, known as electrolysis, is still in use today for lithium production.

2. LITHIUM IS BORN IN THE EXPLOSIONS OF STARS—A FACT WE ONLY DISCOVERED IN 2013.

The first three elements in the periodic table—hydrogen, helium, and lithium—were all forged in the Big Bang. However, while hydrogen and helium are plentiful, lithium is rare. Astrophysicists theorized that stellar explosions, or novae, were responsible for lithium's scarcity in the universe, but it wasn't until the December 2013 explosion of Nova Centauri—visible to the naked eye in the southern hemisphere—that they had concrete evidence. Researchers observed the dying star ejecting lithium into space.

3. LITHIUM'S SOURCES ARE SCARCE.

Over half of the world's lithium is sourced from the high-altitude lakes and striking white salt flats in the 'lithium triangle,' which spans Bolivia, Chile (as shown above), and Argentina. There, it's extracted from a network of brine pools. In other parts of the world, lithium is obtained from open-pit mines that dig deep into the earth's layers. Deposits are also found in Australia, China's Tibetan region, and in the U.S. in North Carolina and Nevada. Between 2015 and 2016, the price of lithium more than tripled, prompting the UK to seek domestic sources. According to consulting firm Stormcrow Capital, demand for lithium could surpass production by 2023. To address this potential shortage, some researchers are focusing on methods to recycle used lithium-ion batteries.

4. LITHIUM DOES NOT EXIST IN ISOLATION.

Lithium is rarely found on its own in nature and typically needs to be extracted from other minerals. It is often sourced from petalite (as shown above) and can be found in trace amounts in nearly all igneous rocks as well as in numerous mineral springs. Some people believe that bathing in lithium-infused hot springs can heal, improving brain function and lifting mood—although no scientific evidence supports these claims.

5. IT FUELS A LOT OF YOUR GADGETS.

Lithium has a number of advantages that make it the go-to element for powering everything from smartphones to hybrid vehicles. As the lightest metal known, it can store power without significantly adding weight to devices. Lithium-ion batteries are also among the most energy-dense of all current battery technologies, delivering three times the voltage of nickel-based batteries, according to the University of Washington's Clean Energy Institute.

But lithium's benefits don't end there. Many nickel-based batteries suffer from what's called the 'memory effect'—when they are charged before they are fully depleted, they gradually lose their power capacity (meaning they may only hold half of their original charge, for example). Lithium-ion batteries, however, are believed to be free from this memory effect.

6. IT'S CRUCIAL FOR ADVANCING ELECTRIC VEHICLES …

At present, most electric vehicle models require recharging after about 300 miles of driving. With the relatively limited number of recharging stations across the country, this can pose challenges for long-distance road trips. To overcome this, the Department of Energy is funding research into improving battery range, and has partnered with five universities, three national laboratories, and IBM to form the Battery500 Consortium. Their aim is to develop smaller, lighter, and more efficient batteries that could, among other uses, extend the driving range of electric vehicles.

"If we're successful, we'll be able to double the range of electric vehicles today. Achieving this is a tremendous challenge," says Jihui Yang, chair of the University of Washington's Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

Yang and his team aim to replace the graphite currently used in the negative electrode of lithium-ion batteries with lithium metal. This would effectively double the amount of lithium in the battery, significantly increasing its power output. However, this comes with a major challenge: in current all-lithium batteries, lithium forms needle-like dendrites that can puncture the separator, a thin layer of porous polymer separating the battery’s negative and positive sides, potentially causing a short circuit.

7. … AND HAS CAUSED FIRES IN PLANES AND PHONES.

Battery shorts can be more than just inconvenient—they can be dangerous. Some Boeing airplanes rely on lithium-ion batteries to power their jet engines, and these fast-charging batteries also serve as backup power for other electrical systems. However, in 2013, the Federal Aviation Administration grounded the entire Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet after one plane’s lithium-ion battery shorted out and caught fire shortly after passengers disembarked in Boston. Another plane had a similar battery malfunction warning shortly thereafter.

In 2013, Tesla Model S cars experienced fires linked to battery malfunctions. Shortly after, Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phones started catching fire, leading the FAA to ban the phones on flights. Samsung had tried to enhance the battery capacity to meet consumers' growing demand for gaming and video streaming, all while shrinking the phone’s size. This challenge led to the batteries becoming more susceptible to overheating.

There’s a reason why these batteries are so prone to combustion. Lithium ions move through tiny openings in the separator between the battery's positive and negative electrodes, carried by a liquid electrolyte. However, if the separator gets damaged—such as from dropping your phone—or if the chemical reactions are altered by heat from recharging or exposure to sunlight, the situation changes. These altered reactions can produce flammable gases, and lithium itself can ignite when exposed to humid air. To prevent risks, the FAA now mandates that spare rechargeable lithium batteries be stored in carry-on luggage. If a fire breaks out from a battery on board, flight attendants have been advised to use water or soda to extinguish the flames, although foam or dry chemical fire extinguishers can also be used.

8. IT'S USED TO TREAT MENTAL ILLNESSES …

For over a century, lithium has been employed to treat bipolar disorder and other mental health conditions, such as depression, schizophrenia, and eating disorders. It's also utilized to treat anemia, headaches, alcoholism, epilepsy, and diabetes. However, there's a fine line between the dosage that is therapeutic and the one that can be deadly.

"It’s not that people don’t understand what lithium does in general, the issue is that it does too much," explains Evan Snyder, a professor in the human genetics program at the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, who has researched disorders involving multiple abnormal genes. He compares prescribing lithium to using a sledgehammer to drive a nail—it causes a lot of collateral damage. "What we want is a tiny, precise hammer to target exactly what lithium is supposed to do," he tells Mytour.

However, before they could zero in on the right target, scientists had to understand what exactly lithium affects in the brain. In 2017, Snyder published research outlining how the drug regulates connections in nerve cells within the brain. According to Snyder, this effect now serves as a comparison point for other medications, with the hope of developing a more precise treatment. Currently, lithium only helps one out of three patients.

9. … BUT THERE CAN BE LONG-TERM SIDE EFFECTS.

At 17, Jaime Lowe believed her parents were secret agents, saw Muppets mocking her, and was convinced she could communicate with Michael Jackson and follow secret tunnels to Neverland. She was soon diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and lithium's daily doses helped stabilize her manic episodes. Without it, as she recounted in a New York Times essay about her life on the medication, she'd be 'riding on top of subway cars measuring speed and looking for light in elevated realms.' About one-third of people with bipolar disorder find relief from their symptoms through lithium.

However, this relief often comes at a cost. Side effects of lithium include weight gain, nausea, and worsened heart and kidney conditions. After two decades of using the drug, Lowe began experiencing high blood pressure and other signs of kidney failure. Her doctor gave her the difficult choice of either discontinuing the medication that had provided her with a functional life—or opting for a kidney transplant. She recounts this decision—and her journey to Bolivia to hike the salt flats where lithium is mined—in her 2017 book, Mental: Lithium, Love, and Losing My Mind.

10. LITHIUM WAS ONCE A KEY INGREDIENT IN 7 UP.

Before it became the iconic drink known today, '7 Up' was originally introduced in 1929 under the name 'Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda,' with lithium citrate as one of its key ingredients. To differentiate itself from the 600 other lemon-lime sodas already on the market, Cadbury Beverages North America promoted the supposed health benefits of the lithium content. This was just weeks before the 1929 stock market crash and the start of the Great Depression. The soda’s recipe had clear appeal, as by the 1940s, 7 Up became the third-best-selling soft drink globally, as per Cadbury. Lithium remained a part of its formula until 1950.