LITHIUM: Lithium Australia achieves high purity lithium phosphate from waste materials

AUSTRALIA – Following the development of a process to generate lithium phosphate from waste materials, Lithium Australia announced this week that its experts have now developed a technique for removing impurities from the lithium phosphate resulting in an exceptionally high purity refined product. In a press release, the Perth-based company said that the product is suitable for the manufacture of lithium-ion batteries and, in particular, those with lithium iron phosphate or LFP chemistry. Even though Lithium Australia was able to produce LFP batteries from unrefined lithium phosphate, the firm said that the refining process was developed to ensure consistency of quality for the production of high performance LFP batteries. “The refined lithium phosphate was used to manufacture cathode powder and subsequently LFP coin cells which were then subjected to a standard testing regime and the results compared with industry benchmarks,” the media statement reads. “The results indicate the refined lithium phosphate is an ideal component for the manufacture of high performance LFP cathode powders.” According to the Australian company, the lithium phosphate refining process is cheap and provides the means to produce high purity materials with consistent quality, something that was paramount for its team as it has partnered with Chinese battery producer DLG to commercialize cathode powder. This story first appeared on www.Mining.com.