Lithios finds creative inspiration in battery manufacturing to extract lithium from salty water

Mo Alkhadra dedicated years of his life to finding ways to remove harmful substances like toxic lead and radioactive waste from water. However, during his doctoral studies at MIT, he realized that simply improving existing filtration systems wouldn’t be enough to bring his technology to market.

Instead of focusing on cleaning water and eliminating contaminants, Alkhadra shifted his attention to extracting valuable minerals, starting with lithium, from deep underground reservoirs. This shift led to the creation of his startup, Lithios, which aims to meet the growing demand for lithium as the automotive industry shifts towards electric vehicles.

Traditional methods of extracting lithium, such as mining or evaporation from salt flats, have limitations in terms of cost, speed, and geographic availability. In response, startups like Lithios, Lilac Solutions, and EnergyX are developing innovative ways to extract lithium sustainably from underground briny water sources.

Lithios’ approach to lithium extraction involves passing lithium-rich water through electrified intercalation compounds, similar to how lithium ions flow back and forth in lithium-ion batteries. This process results in a concentrated lithium solution that can be easily converted into battery powders.

The company recently secured $10 million in seed funding to scale up its technology for testing in real-world brine samples. While the ultimate goal is to deploy refrigerator-sized systems for large-scale commercial projects, Alkhadra acknowledges that this vision will take time to realize.