Lithium Carbonate Applications
| Jerry Huang
Lithium carbonate is a basic lithium salt used to produce various lithium compounds, metallic lithium and its isotopes. It is also used to produce catalysts for chemical reactions, as well as being used in the semiconductor, ceramics, television, medical and atomic energy industries. It is often used as an analytical reagent in analytical chemistry. As a key raw material, it is also used in lithium-ion battery industry, such as lithium cobalt oxide, lithium manganate, NCM, NCA and lithium iron phosphate batteries. Lithium carbonate is also used as a setting accelerator in cement admixtures.
Lithium carbonate, as an ingredient in certain medicine, has a significant inhibitory effect on mania and can improve the affective disorder of schizophrenia. The therapeutic dose of lithium carbonate has no influence on the mental activity of normal people. It may have an effect of inhibiting the release of norepinephrine at synapses in the brain and enhancing its reuptake. Medicine made of it has an effect on increasing peripheral blood cells. A small dose of certain drug can be used against uterine fibroids with menorrhagia. It can also be used to cure acute bacillary dysentery. Lithium salt has no sedative effect. Patient with severe acute mania can be first cured with chlorpromazine or haloperidol, and then maintained by lithium carbonate ingrediented medicine, after the acute symptoms are controlled.
Lithium Carbonate has applications in a large variety of sectors:
- Applications in polymer rubber, pharmaceutical industry, catalyst, li-ion battery and in organic synthesis.
- Used as a key material in the lithium-ion battery industry.
- Additives for aluminum electrolysis and rare earth electrolysis.
- Catalyst for organic reaction; also used in the synthesis of pharmaceutical intermediates.
- Aluminum welding agent, also as an important ingredient in production of special cement.
- Raw material for producing alkaline storage batteries and lithium-based lubricants.
- Used as dehumidifier in air conditioning and gas drying equipment.
- Used as reducing agent, concentration agent, organic synthesis catalyst.