MIT spin-out develops novel extraction tech to unlock US lithium reserves

A SPINOUT from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has developed a new lithium extraction process that could sustainably tap into millions of tonnes of US reserves.

Lithios, co-founded by PhD graduate Mo Alkhadra, has pioneered an electrochemical extraction method that selectively captures lithium from brine.

The company says the process uses less water and energy than conventional hard-rock mining and requires minimal downstream processing as most impurities remain in the brine.

Large lithium reserves have been identified in Texas and Arkansas, with estimates for southwest Arkansas alone ranging from 5–19m t.

Alkhadra said: “We have an abundance of lithium deposits at our disposal in the US, but we lack the tools to turn those resources into value.”

He added: “There’s been a big push recently, and especially in the last year, to secure domestic supplies of lithium and break away from the Chinese chokehold on the critical mineral supply chain.”

Advanced lithium extraction

Lithios’s method built off decades of MIT research into battery material and electrochemical separation. Alkhadra worked with Martin Z Bazant, Chevron chair professor of chemical engineering, to adapt his work on dissolved-metal separation to lithium extraction in the US, where low lithium concentrations and high impurities make chemical extraction methods unprofitable.

Bazant said one of the biggest challenges was designing a complete system around lithium-selective battery electrodes: “We have a great lithium-extraction material that is very stable in water and has wonderful performance. We also learned how to formulate both electrodes with controlled ion transport and mixing to make the process much more efficient and low cost.”

US demand

Lithium demand continues to climb as battery production grows, rising 30% in 2024 according to the International Energy Agency. China dominates the global processing market with a 65% share, prompting the US to accelerate development of domestic projects. Around 66 are in early stages across the country, though large clay-pit developments often carry multibillion-dollar costs and high project risk, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas notes.

Alkhadra said Lithios’s technology is designed specifically for US brine conditions. “We’re developing a unique technology that could make the US the centre of the world for critical minerals separation, and we couldn’t have done this anywhere else.”

Lithios has shipped its first pilot system to a commercial partner in Arkansas, with plans to develop a bigger system next year that can produce 10–100 t/y of lithium carbonate.

Alkhadra added: “After this field deployment, Lithios will quickly scale toward a commercial demonstration plant that will be operational by 2027, with the intent to scale to a kilotonne-per-year commercial facility before the end of the decade.”