The lithium triangle in South America houses extensive evaporation pools that discreetly generate lithium—a resource frequently referred to as white gold—which fuels our smartphones, electric vehicles, and battery storage systems.
These ponds, nourished by mineral-laden brines, provide almost 40% of global lithium needs and the majority of natural nitrates worldwide.
This technique relies on sunlight to evaporate water, gradually depositing essential minerals; however, it is highly inefficient. It requires extensive tracts of land and may necessitate several months for extracting viable lithium.
A startup originating from Princeton University aims to alter this situation. The company, Princeton Critical Minerals, has achieved a significant advancement with a dark, disk-shaped component that can float atop saltwater reservoirs.
Referred to as an “artificial lily pad,” this straightforward gadget features a specialized anti-fouling coating aimed at boosting the evaporation process and enhancing mineral extraction. It achieves this by efficiently capturing and transforming sunlight into heat energy.
Boosting evaporation rates
“More than fifty percent of the sunlight received by traditional ponds goes to waste,” stated Zhiyong ‘Jason’ Ren, who is the co-founder and chief scientist at Princeton Critical Minerals.
Our technology harnesses more than 96% of that solar energy and directs it towards speeding up the evaporation process.
The Princeton-based startup collaborated with the lithium heavyweight SQM to conduct tests on the lily pads.
During field tests, the apparatus increased evaporation rates by 40 percent to 122 percent, varying with the brine’s makeup.
The gadget operates based on the concept of interfacial solar evaporation (ISE), which warms only the top layer of water instead of heating its entire volume. This approach minimizes energy waste and limits water leakage.
Constructed with specialized cellulose fibers and carbon layers, the lily pad accelerates evaporation and prevents salt accumulation. Additionally, it isolates the minerals during their formation process, enhancing the efficiency of lithium recovery.
Smaller footprint, bigger impact
This advancement has implications that extend well past mere speed. With the innovation boosting the production efficiency of current evaporation ponds, there will be less necessity for building additional ones.
That’s a big win for places like Chile’s Atacama Desert, where lithium production often clashes with delicate ecosystems and limited water supplies.
Unlike hard rock mining, which is energy-hungry and carbon-heavy, extracting
lithium
from brine has long been considered the cleaner option.
However, the image becomes more complex when significant changes in land use and water stress are taken into account.
This innovative tech might provide an eco-friendly option as a replacement for current solutions.
brine
extraction.
This method could potentially eliminate the requirement for energy-intensive techniques such as vapor compression or high-pressure filtration, which consume large amounts of power and are difficult to upscale.
Sean Zheng, who serves as the CEO of PCM and previously held the position of Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow at the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, stated that the company is currently focused on scaling up production of the lily pad devices with plans to pursue global commercial implementation.
In numerous aspects, the methods used for mining minerals remain similar to those of three decades past. However, our technology has the potential to completely transform the traditional method of extracting crucial minerals.
Titled ‘Interfacial Solar Evaporation for Sustainable Brine Mining,’ this innovation has been featured in the journal.
Nature Water
.
