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Chinese companies refine the spodumene into solid lithium, and into the two lithium compounds used in batteries - lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate.

The first refined lithium to be commercially produced in Australia happened back in 2022, when Perth-based IGO announced that it was making battery-grade lithium hydroxide at its Kwinana Refinery in Western Australia.

In future studies, Müller hopes to understand why lithium hydroxide works so well and whether even less expensive, more abundant materials can be substituted to bring the cost down further.

Using cobalt hydroxide and lithium hydroxide as starting materials, with sodium or potassium hydroxide as an additive, the team conducted a series of high-precision experiments under varying conditions to synthesize layered LiCoO2 crystals.

Mineral Resources is deciding whether to build an Australian lithium battery chemical plant, while Albemarle is expanding production at its Kemerton hydroxide plant and SQM is also building a lithium hydroxide plant.