Lithium applications

Lithium applications

Lithium is widely used in battery, ceramics, glass, lubricant, refrigeration liquid, nuclear industry and photoelectric industries. With the continuous development of computers, digital cameras, mobile phones, mobile power tools and other electronic products, the battery industry has become the largest consumer of lithium. In addition, lithium carbonate is one of the effective ways to reduce energy consumption and environmental protection in ceramic industry, and the demand for lithium will also increase. At the same time, various new roles of lithium in glass are also being discovered, and the demand for lithium in the glass industry will continue to grow. As a result, the glass and ceramic industry has become the second largest consumer of lithium.

① Battery industry

Because lithium has a small atomic weight, batteries using lithium as an anode have a high energy density. In addition, lithium battery also has the advantages of light weight, small size, long life, good performance, no pollution and so on, so it is popular. In recent years, the application of lithium in the battery field has the fastest growth, has risen from 7% in 1997 to 35% in 2013, the battery field has become the world's largest lithium consumption field. Now, lithium batteries have been widely used in notebook computers, mobile phones, digital cameras, small electronic equipment, aerospace, electromechanical and military communications and other fields. As electric vehicle technology continues to mature, lithium battery will be widely used in the automotive industry.

② Glass industry

Lithium concentrate or lithium in the manufacture of glass has a large melting effect, added to the glass ingredients can reduce the temperature of glass melting and melt viscosity, simplify the production process, reduce energy consumption, prolong the furnace life, increase output, improve operating conditions, reduce pollution. In addition, adding lithium compounds in glass can reduce the coefficient of thermal expansion of glass, improve the density and finish of glass, improve the strength, ductility, corrosion resistance and heat resistance of the rapid change. Now lithium - containing glass is widely used in chemistry, electronics, optics and modern science and technology sectors, and even in daily life products.

③Ceramic industry

Adding a small amount of spodumene into the ceramics can reduce the sintering temperature, shorten the sintering time, improve the fluidity and adhesion of the ceramics, improve the strength and refractive index of the ceramics, and enhance the heat resistance, acid resistance, alkali resistance, wear resistance and heat shock resistance of the ceramics. Now, spodumene low thermal expansion ceramics and low thermal expansion glazes made of spodumene are widely used in trays in microwave ovens, electromagnetic cooker panels, turbine blades, spark plugs, foam ceramics with low thermal expansion coefficient and light ceramics.

④ grease industryCompared with potassium, sodium and calcium based grease, lithium grease has the advantages of oxygen resistance, pressure resistance and good lubrication performance. In particular, lithium grease has wide working degree and good water resistance. It almost does not change the viscosity of grease at -60℃~300℃, and can still maintain good stability even when the water amount is very small. Therefore, it is applied to aircraft, tanks, trains, automobiles, gold, petrochemical, radio detection and other equipment.

⑤Metallurgical industry
As a component of light alloy, ultralight alloy, wear-resisting alloy and other nonferrous alloys, lithium can greatly improve the properties of alloys. For example, lithium magnesium alloy is a high strength light alloy, which not only has good thermal conductivity, electric conductivity, ductility, but also has corrosion resistance, wear resistance, good impact resistance, high speed particle penetration and other characteristics. It is known as "tomorrow's aerospace alloy" and is widely used in aerospace, national defense and other fields. With the increasing demand for lightweight, energy-saving, environmental protection and sustainable development of structural materials in today's world, mg-Li alloy will also be applied to transportation, electronics, medical products and other fields that need lightweight structural materials.
Adding lithium to beryllium, zinc, copper, silver, cadmium and boron produces alloys that are not only tougher or stronger, but also increase tensile strength and elasticity. The amount of lithium in these alloys ranges from a few parts per thousand to a few percent.

Lithium is also an effective degassing agent. The chemical activity of lithium, will join the rest of the molten metal or alloy lithium, lithium will with metal or alloy, such as hydrogen, oxygen, sulfur, nitrogen and other gases react to generate density of small, low melting point compound, not only can eliminate these gases, become more dense metal, also can eliminate air bubbles in the metal and other defects, so as to improve the grain structure of the metal, Improve the mechanical properties of metals.

⑥ Other Applications
Lithium metal has the properties of large heat capacity, wide liquid temperature range, high thermal conductivity, low viscosity and low density, and is used as a coolant in nuclear fusion or nuclear fission reactors.
Lithium bromide is an efficient water vapor absorber and air humidity regulator, widely used in air conditioning, dehumidification, refrigeration and air purification systems.

Lithium and its compounds have the characteristics of high combustion, high speed, wide flame, high calorific value, etc., and are often used as high-energy fuels in rockets, aircraft or submarines.

Lithium also makes "lithium fertilizer" to prevent tomato rot and wheat rust.

Adding lithium salt in aluminum electrolytic cell can improve the fluidity of melting salt, reduce the electrolytic degree, and save electric energy significantly.

N-butyl lithium is also used as the initiator of the synthesis of styrene, butadienol, widely used in high and low temperature resistant rubber sealing materials and rubber tires, rubber tires adding butyl lithium can improve its life more than four times.