Li-Metal’s technologies targetting next-gen battery market

“Li-Metal’s overarching strategy is to entrench then grow,” CEO Jastrzebski told MINING.COM.

Convinced that lithium metal batteries are the next big thing, the Canadian company has developed a lithium metal production process that takes lithium carbonate, as recycled or virgin powder or granules, and dissolves it in molten salt. This is then electrolyzed in a membrane electrowinning cell which splits the lithium carbonate into technical-grade lithium metal and off-gas. The technical grade lithium metal is refined further to create high-performance, battery-grade metal.

According to Jastrzebski, this process is less expensive than existing lithium production processes, can utilize domestic chemical sources, and is more sustainable. 

“Our lithium metal production uses a different feedstock; lithium carbonate, rather than lithium chloride, which is very advantageous. This requires a two-compartment cell with separate electrolytes for the cathode and anode, so the structure of the cell and operating philosophies are quite different compared to the conventional process,” the executive explained. “The only similarity is that as the conventional process, it is a molten salt electrolysis process.”

MDC: What makes it more sustainable?

Jastrzebski: One of the biggest advantages of our process is that it avoids electrolyzing lithium chloride. When you electrolyze lithium chloride, you release about five tonnes of toxic chlorine gas for every tonne of metal you produce. This manifests as both fugitive emissions in the plant, and tail gas that has to be captured and treated. By eliminating this source of emissions, we are able to reduce the environmental impact of the process by-products. Similarly, because our process doesn’t require sophisticated gas-treatment equipment, we eliminate the energy and materials associated with its operation.

MDC: What makes it cheaper?

Jastrzebski: Firstly, most high-purity lithium chloride is made from lithium carbonate, so by using lithium carbonate directly we eliminate a conversion step that normally adds to the input cost of the feedstock. Secondly, because we don’t need to build and operate the same sophisticated gas treatment equipment, we save both on the initial build cost of the plant, and on the operating cost relative to the conventional process.

New anode technology

As it develops its lithium metal production technology, Li-Metal is also working on a new lithium anode technology.

The feedstock for both developments is obtained in the open market but once commercial-scale operations begin, the intention is to source sustainable, North American raw materials, including lithium carbonate from recycled batteries.

Jastrzebski explained that the company’s anode technology uses a roll-to-roll deposition process that consists of unwinding wide-format micron-scale material from the substrate roll…