Lithium refining and recycling: electrochemistry for the energy transition

Lithium is no longer only a raw material issue. As demand for electric mobility, battery energy storage and more resilient energy systems continues to grow, the lithium value chain is becoming increasingly strategic. The challenge is not only to extract more lithium, but also to process it more efficiently, transform it into high-quality battery materials and, in the longer term, recover it from end-of-life batteries.

This is where lithium refining and lithium recycling become essential. Both are critical steps in building a more secure, scalable and circular battery supply chain. They also open new opportunities for electrochemistry, which can help simplify conventional processes, reduce the use of chemical reagents and valorise streams that would otherwise be difficult to reuse.

For De Nora, this is a natural field of application for its industrial know-how. Through its Enso electrolyser platform, De Nora applies salt splitting to convert lithium salts into battery-grade lithium hydroxide, supporting more efficient and circular refining and recovery processes.

As Michele Sponchiado, Business Development Manager, explains, the opportunity lies in applying an existing electrochemical capability to a fast-growing industrial need: “We are not starting from scratch with a process developed only for lithium. The process already existed. What we are proposing is the use of our equipment for the conversion of lithium chloride or lithium sulphate into lithium hydroxide”.

The growth of the lithium market is closely connected to two major trends: electric mobility and energy storage. Lithium-ion batteries are central to both. They are used in electric vehicles, but also in storage systems that support the integration of renewable energy and help manage electricity supply and demand.

This is why lithium has become one of the key materials of the energy transition. The issue is no longer limited to the availability of lithium resources; it also concerns how lithium is extracted, refined, converted into battery-grade products and eventually recovered from used batteries.

De Nora expects demand to grow strongly over the next decade, with studies indicating a compound annual growth rate around double digits. As Sponchiado points out, “What we expect to be very strong is growth over the next ten years, with several studies indicating a CAGR from around 9.5 or 10% up to 15%. So we are looking at a market that is clearly interesting”.

This growth changes the industrial geography of lithium. The market increasingly needs not only mines and brines, but also refining capacity, battery-grade conversion technologies and recycling processes able to recover valuable materials from end-of-life batteries. In this context, the ability to transform lithium-containing streams into high-quality products becomes a strategic part of the battery value chain.

For De Nora, the focus is on the stage where electrochemistry can create value: the conversion of lithium salts into lithium hydroxide (LiOH), one of the main precursors used in lithium-ion battery production.

Lithium used in batteries is mainly processed into two key products: lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide. Both are important, but they are associated with different battery chemistries and performance requirements.

Lithium carbonate is widely used and is often linked to battery chemistries such as LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate), which are generally less expensive and used in applications where cost, safety and durability are priorities. Lithium hydroxide, on the other hand, is particularly relevant for high-performance cathode chemistries with high nickel content, such as NMC (Nickel Manganese Cobalt) and NCA (Nickel Cobalt Aluminium). These chemistries are used when higher energy density and performance are required.

This is one of the reasons why lithium hydroxide is strategically important for De Nora. The company’s electrochemical route can produce LiOH directly from lithium salts such as lithium chloride (LiCl) and lithium sulphate (Li₂SO₄). In other words, lithium hydroxide is not only a market-relevant product: it is also the natural output of the electrochemical process.

As Sponchiado explains, “Among the products that interest us most is lithium hydroxide. Lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide are both used as battery precursors, but lithium hydroxide is more suitable for cathode chemistries with a high nickel content, and therefore for higher-performance batteries”.

There is also a further point. If lithium hydroxide can be produced at a competitive cost through an electrochemical route, it can also become a useful intermediate for other lithium products. Lithium carbonate can be obtained from lithium hydroxide through carbonation, which means that low-cost LiOH production may also support broader flexibility in lithium processing.

The lithium value chain does not end with extraction. Once lithium is obtained from brines or hard-rock minerals, it needs to be refined and converted into battery-grade compounds. This is often a complex process, involving several chemical steps, purification stages, precipitation, washing and crystallisation.

In the case of lithium chloride, which can be obtained from brines such as those found in salar deposits, the conventional route typically involves several chemical transformations before lithium hydroxide is produced. In the case of lithium sulphate, which may derive from the treatment of hard-rock minerals such as spodumene, further processing is also required to obtain lithium hydroxide.

This is where refining can become a bottleneck. More lithium demand requires more refining capacity, but also more efficient, sustainable and scalable processes. It is not enough to increase raw material supply if the downstream conversion chain remains complex, reagent-intensive or difficult to scale.

The same applies to lithium recycling. As more lithium-ion batteries reach the end of their life, recycling will become increasingly relevant for recovering valuable materials and reducing pressure on primary resources. After the treatment of battery materials, operators may obtain lithium-containing streams, often in the form of lithium sulphate, that can be further valorised.

As Sponchiado notes, recycling represents a distinct and important customer segment for De Nora: “The other interesting category in lithium is companies involved in recycling. When batteries are recycled, the process starts from black mass. Nickel and cobalt are separated, and at the end there is often a lithium sulphate stream that can be valorised with this technology”.

This makes recycling more than a waste management issue. It becomes a way to support circularity, improve resource efficiency and reduce dependence on primary supply. The ambition is to move towards a model in which lithium can be recovered and reused in new battery materials, contributing to more circular battery value chains.

De Nora’s role in the lithium value chain is specific. The company is not positioned as a miner, a producer of battery cells or a battery recycler. It operates as a technology and solution provider, bringing its electrochemical expertise to one of the most critical stages of the battery supply chain: the conversion of lithium-containing streams into battery-grade materials.

At the centre of this approach is Enso, De Nora’s electrolyser platform for salt splitting processes. In lithium applications, Enso can be used to convert lithium salts such as lithium chloride and lithium sulphate into lithium hydroxide monohydrate, supporting both refining and recovery routes.

The industrial value of this approach lies in process simplification. Conventional routes to lithium hydroxide can require several chemical steps, including precipitation, washing, purification and crystallisation. Direct electrochemical conversion can help reduce this complexity, limiting the use of bulk chemicals and turning some process streams into resources that can be recovered and reused.

Sponchiado summarises the advantage clearly: “Those steps collapse into a single electrolysis step. We feed a purified brine and, through electrochemistry, produce lithium hydroxide. We do not use additional reagents in the same way as the traditional route, and instead of generating waste streams, we produce streams that can be recovered and reused”.

This is the core of De Nora’s positioning in lithium refining and recycling: applying industrial electrochemistry to help simplify lithium conversion, support the recovery of valuable streams and enable more efficient and circular lithium value chains.

As the lithium market expands, the ability to refine and recover lithium efficiently will become increasingly important. For De Nora, the opportunity is not to extract lithium, but to help transform it into the materials needed for the next generation of batteries.