chemistry

Lithium hydroxide

Lithium hydroxide is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Lithium hydroxide rather than just read about it. In short: Lithium hydroxide is an inorganic compound with the formula LiOH. It can exist as anhydrous or hydrated, and both forms are white hygroscopic solids.

Key takeaways

Lithium hydroxide belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Lithium hydroxide to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Lithium hydroxide from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Lithium hydroxide is an inorganic compound with the formula LiOH. It can exist as anhydrous or hydrated, and both forms are white hygroscopic solids. They are soluble in water and slightly soluble in ethanol. Both are available commercially. While classified as a strong base, lithium hydroxide is the weakest known alkali metal hydroxide.

Production The preferred feedstock is hard-rock spodumene, where the lithium content is expressed as % lithium oxide.

Lithium carbonate route Lithium hydroxide is often produced industrially from lithium carbonate in a metathesis reaction with calcium hydroxide:

Li2CO3 + Ca(OH)2 → 2 LiOH + CaCO3 The initially produced hydrate is dehydrated by heating under vacuum up to 180 °C.

Lithium sulfate route An alternative route involves the intermediacy of lithium sulfate:

α-spodumene → β-spodumene β-spodumene + CaO → Li2O + ... Li2O + H2SO4 → Li2SO4 + H2O Li2SO4 + 2 NaOH → Na2SO4 + 2 LiOH The main by-products are gypsum and sodium sulphate, which have some market value.

Commercial setting According to Bloomberg, Ganfeng Lithium Co. Ltd. (GFL or Ganfeng) and Albemarle were the largest producers in 2020 with around 25kt/y, followed by Livent Corporation (FMC) and SQM. Significant new capacity is planned, to keep pace with demand driven by vehicle electrification. Ganfeng are to expand lithium chemical capacity to 85,000 tons, adding the capacity leased from Jiangte, Ganfeng will become the largest lithium hydroxide producer globally in 2021. Albemarle's Kemerton, Western Australia plant, originally planned to deliver 100kt/y has been scaled back to 50kt/y. In 2020 Tianqi Lithium's, plant in Kwinana, Western Australia was the largest producer, with a capacity of 48kt/y.

Applications

Lithium-ion batteries Lithium hydroxide is mainly consumed in the production of cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries such as lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2) and lithium iron phosphate. It is preferred over lithium carbonate as a precursor for lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxides.

Grease A popular lithium grease thickener is lithium 12-hydroxystearate, which produces a general-purpose lubricating grease due to its high resistance to water and usefulness at a range of temperatures.

Carbon dioxide scrubbing

Lithium hydroxide is used in breathing gas purification systems for spacecraft, submarines, and rebreathers to remove carbon dioxide from exhaled gas by producing lithium carbonate and water:

2 LiOH·H2O + CO2 → Li2CO3 + 3 H2O or

2 LiOH + CO2 → Li2CO3 + H2O The latter, anhydrous hydroxide, is preferred for its lower mass and lesser water production for respirator systems in spacecraft. One gram of anhydrous lithium hydroxide can remove 450 cm3 of carbon dioxide gas. The monohydrate loses its water at 100–110 °C.

Precursor Lithium hydroxide, together with lithium carbonate, is a key intermediates used for the production of other lithium compounds, illustrated by its use in the production of lithium fluoride:

LiOH + HF → LiF + H2O

Other uses It is also used in ceramics and some Portland cement formulations, where it is also used to suppress ASR (concrete cancer). Lithium hydroxide (isotopically enriched in lithium-7) is used to alkalize the reactor coolant in pressurized water reactors for corrosion control. It is good radiation protection against free neutrons.

Price In 2012, the price of lithium hydroxide was about US$5–6/kg. In December 2020, it had risen to $9/kg. On 18 March 2021, the price had risen to $11.50/kg.

Illustrations

Lithium hydroxide: Lithium-hydroxide.jpg — Lithium-hydroxide.jpg

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Lithium hydroxide

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Lithium hydroxide claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Lithium hydroxide before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Lithium hydroxide ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Lithium hydroxide

In research: Lithium hydroxide appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Lithium hydroxide in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Lithium hydroxide is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Hydroxides, Lithium compounds, Rebreather components, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Lithium hydroxide outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Lithium hydroxide in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Lithium hydroxide means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Lithium hydroxide out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lithium hydroxide in simple terms?

Lithium hydroxide is an inorganic compound with the formula LiOH. It can exist as anhydrous or hydrated, and both forms are white hygroscopic solids.

Why does Lithium hydroxide matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Lithium hydroxide?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Lithium hydroxide.