DB: That’s correct. It has more of an impact on brine producers because their first viable product is going to be a carbonate.
JCZ: Right, although there are some, you know, revolutionary technologies that are aiming at producing LiOH directly from brine as well.
DB: Yes.
JCZ: But, of course, many brine producers are still quite skeptical about using these technologies because they think they’re not validated enough. But my feeling is that somewhere along the line, this is going to change. What do you think about that?
DB: Well, I think there are several membrane and electro-chemical technologies that can do that work, converting brine directly to a hydroxide. However, it’s an added cost, been driven by the need for EV grade lithium hydroxide. The cathode industry currently grinds and mills lithium hydroxide with Ni, Mn and Co, before firing the mixture in a furnace. Before firing, the powder particles are still many thousands of atoms wide, and the furnace softens them up so that atoms of lithium start to migrate and mix with the Ni, Mn and Co.
LiOH has a lower melting point than Li2CO3 and mixes more readily with the Ni, Mn and Co and this prevents EV grade materials, that are rich in Nickel, from forming the wrong structures. In our case, we already have the lithium atoms mixed atomically before we get to the furnace, so we’re not trying to move atoms over really great distances and we don’t require the lithium source to have a lower melting point; and that’s why we can get away with the carbonate."
(2017 Seeking Alpha interview that won't let me link copy)
----"and mixes more readily"----
Hydroxide plants are not going to stop on a dime & re-tool.
In mean time, Nano-One could be retrofitted into any current Hydroxide plant after that step &
still return serious processing savings.
Of course for new plants, you could by-pass Hydroxide all together.
When Nano-One says --- we can use either or type of Li, it dosen't tell the whole story.
One that would fit into the "Lisenceing", aspect of the different revenue models.