Element3, a Texas-based company focused on extracting lithium from wastewater produced by oil and gas production, has licensed a collection of seven technologies for lithium recovery developed by scientists from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

(Lithium is the third element on the periodic table.)

The technologies were developed through the Critical Materials Innovation Hub, a DOE Energy Innovation Hub led by Ames National Laboratory that is dedicated to accelerating scientific and technological solutions to ensure secure domestic supply chains for critical minerals and materials.

The worldwide lithium battery market is projected to grow by a factor of 5 to 10 in the next decade.As part of ORNL’s mission from DOE to advance clean energy technologies and secure the nation, ORNL conducts research that aims to ensure a stable domestic supply of critical materials for the electrification of transportation.

The technologies licensed to Element3 include membrane extraction techniques and new separation methods. The team of inventors behind the technologies includes ORNL’s Ramesh Bhave, Syed Islam, Jayanthi Kumar, Bruce Moyer, Paranthaman and Ilja Popovs. Former ORNL scientists Vishwanath Deshmane, Nicholas Linneen, Mary Healy, Tej Lamichhane and Henry Musrock also contributed to the technologies.

This collection spans the entire process for direct lithium extraction, and it will help bring a true solution to market. We were attracted to ORNL because Bruce and Parans are truly world leaders and foundational scientists in this area of expertise.

—Hood Whitson, chief executive officer of Element3

Moyer led CMI’s focus area for diversifying supply through new sources and transformative processes. Paranthaman led CMI’s project on lithium extraction and conversion from brines and minerals.

DOE’s Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office sponsored the research behind one of the inventions through the Critical Materials: Next-Generation Technologies and Field Validation funding opportunity in 2020.