Lithium content in the population of the Aktobe region of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the relationship with mental illness: a cross-sectional study

The article presents data on the study of the content of lithium in the hair of the adult population of the Aktobe region of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the relationship with mental illness. The aim of the study is to assess the content of lithium in the biosubstrates of the adult population and its relationship with the morbidity of the population of the Aktobe region.Materials and methods: A one-stage cross-sectional study was carried out on the territory of the Aktobe region of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The study included 340 residents aged 18-60 years permanently residing in the study area using the method of simple random sampling. The lithium content in hair was determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry on a NexION 300D spectrometer (PerkinElmer Inc., USA) equipped with an ESI SC-2 DX4 sampler (Elemental Scientific Inc., USA). The morbidity rates were studied according to the ICD-10 classes per 100 thousand population. To assess the relationship between the Li content in the hair and the morbidity rates, the Spearman rank correlation coefficient was calculated.Results: According to the results of the study, significant deviations from the reference values were observed for the lithium content in the Aktobe region. There is an excess of lithium for 80.59% (CI: 76.38; 84.79) of the subjects, the norm is 19.41% (CI: 15.21; 23.62). Excess lithium is more common in men than in women (χ2 =11.07 df=1; p=0.001). Considering the districts of the Aktobe region, the highest content of Li (Me (q25-q75)) was found in the Aitekebi district (0.084 (0.022 -0.134)) mcg/g, in the Kobda district 0.069 (0.060- 0.076) mcg/g, in the Mugalzhar district 0.046 (0.019-0.066) mcg/g, in the Oiyl district 0.044 (0.021-0.0762) mcg/g, in the Alga district 0.040 (0.024-0.090) mcg/g. Spearman’s correlation rank analysis showed a weak positive association of Li content with age (r=0.20, p =0.0001), no association with body mass index was found (r=0.10, p =0.06). The correlation analysis established a direct inverse average relationship between the content of Li and morbidity in the class of diseases “Mental disorders and behavioral disorders” (r=-0.62; p= 0.044).Conclusions: The high prevalence of excess lithium content in the hair of the population and its relationship with mental illness requires further research. The study of the bioelement status of the population can serve as an indicator of environmental pollution, and also aims at monitoring the ecological situation in the region.

HYDROTHERMAL EXTRACTION OF LITHIUM COMPOUNDS FROM PETALITE Li[AlSi4O10]

Based on studies of the decomposition of pe­ta­lite ore, the hydrothermal method for the extraction of lithium and aluminum compounds from lithium aluminosilicate Li[AlSi4O10] (petalite) has been developed. The studied sample of ore contains, wt. %: Li2O – 0.75 and Al2O3 – 14.65. For unenriched petalite ore with low lithium content, it is proposed to use the hydrochemical method of aluminosilicate processing – Ponomarev – Sazhin method. According to this method, the decomposition of ore is carried out directly in autoclaves by chemical interaction of ore components with NaOH solution in the presence of calcium oxide. The conditions (high temperature and pressure) for the destruction of petalite and the transition of lithium into the liquid phase are created exactly in the hydrothermal process. In this case, lithium and aluminum compounds pass into the solution, and calcium and silicon form a partially soluble compound in the solid phase – sodium-calcium hydrosilicateNa2O·2CaO·2SiO2·2H2O. The degree of extraction of lithium reaches 89–94 %, aluminum reaches 77–95 % within 1 hour at a tempe­rature of 240–280 °C, given caustic modulus 14–18, the concentration of the initial solution of 400–450 g/dm3 of Na2O and the ratio of CaO : SiO2 = 1 : 1 in the reaction mixture. Aluminate or lithium carbonate and other compounds can be obtained from an aluminate solution containing 1.5–2.5 g/dm3 of Li2O and 32–44 g/dm3 of Al2O3. The solid phase formed as a result of decomposition, with a high degree of extraction of lithium from the ore contains a small amount of Li2O in its composition and therefore can be used in the cement industry. Depending on the quality of the decomposed raw material, the course of the hydrothermal process is influenced by a set of factors. With a small content of lithium and aluminum in the ore, the caustic modulus of aluminate solutions (αк = 1,645*Na2O/Al2O3) formed after decomposition is important. Its calculation is required in order to determine the amount of alkaline solution of the required concentration to ensure almost complete decomposition of the ore. This value should be higher the lower the decomposition temperature and the concentration of the initial solution to achieve the same degree of recovery of useful components in the liquid phase. With the same caustic modulus, the efficiency of ore decomposition increases significantly with increasing process temperature and increasing the concentration of the initial solution. This can be seen in the values of the degree of extraction of aluminum, which increases by 12 % with increasing temperature from 240 to 280 °C, while the extraction of lithium remains practically unchanged.

Monitoring of Lithium Contents in Lithium Ores and Concentrate-Assessment Using X-ray Diffraction (XRD)

Lithium plays an increasing role in battery applications, but is also used in ceramics and other chemical applications. Therefore, a higher demand can be expected for the coming years. Lithium occurs in nature mainly in different mineralizations but also in large salt lakes in dry areas. As lithium cannot normally be analyzed using XRF-techniques (XRF = X-ray Fluorescence), the element must be analyzed by time consuming wet chemical treatment techniques. This paper concentrates on XRD techniques for the quantitative analysis of lithium minerals and the resulting recalculation using additional statistical methods of the lithium contents. Many lithium containing ores and concentrates are rather simple in mineralogical composition and are often based on binary mineral assemblages. Using these compositions in binary and ternary mixtures of lithium minerals, such as spodumene, amblygonite, lepidolite, zinnwaldite, petalite and triphylite, a quantification of mineral content can be made. The recalculation of lithium content from quantitative mineralogical analysis leads to a fast and reliable lithium determination in the ores and concentrates. The techniques used for the characterization were quantitative mineralogy by the Rietveld method for determining the quantitative mineral compositions and statistical calculations using additional methods such as partial least square regression (PLSR) and cluster analysis methods to predict additional parameters, like quality, of the samples. The statistical calculations and calibration techniques makes it especially possible to quantify reliable and fast. Samples and concentrates from different lithium deposits and occurrences around the world were used for these investigations. Using the proposed XRD method, detection limits of less than 1% of mineral and, therefore down to 0.1% lithium oxide, can be reached. Case studies from a hard rock lithium deposit will demonstrate the value of mineralogical monitoring during mining and the different processing steps. Additional, more complex considerations for the analysis of lithium samples from salt lake brines are included and will be discussed.

Absolute Local Quantification of Li as Function of State-of-Charge in All-Solid-State Li Batteries via 2D MeV Ion-Beam Analysis

Direct observation of the lithiation and de-lithiation in lithium batteries on the component and microstructural scale is still difficult. This work presents recent advances in MeV ion-beam analysis, enabling quantitative contact-free analysis of the spatially-resolved lithium content and state-of-charge (SoC) in all-solid-state lithium batteries via 3 MeV proton-based characteristic x-ray and gamma-ray emission analysis. The analysis is demonstrated on cross-sections of ceramic and polymer all-solid-state cells with LLZO and MEEP/LIBOB solid electrolytes. Different SoC are measured ex-situ and one polymer-based operando cell is charged at 333 K during analysis. The data unambiguously show the migration of lithium upon charging. Quantitative lithium concentrations are obtained by taking the physical and material aspects of the mixed cathodes into account. This quantitative lithium determination as a function of SoC gives insight into irreversible degradation phenomena of all-solid-state batteries during the first cycles and locations of immobile lithium. The determined SoC matches the electrochemical characterization within uncertainties. The presented analysis method thus opens up a completely new access to the state-of-charge of battery cells not depending on electrochemical measurements. Automated beam scanning and data-analysis algorithms enable a 2D quantitative Li and SoC mapping on the µm-scale, not accessible with other methods.

Corrosion Behavior of TC4 Titanium Alloys in Al–Li Alloy Melt

The influences of Li content on the corrosion behavior of TC4 (Ti6Al4V) titanium alloy were explored when the TC4 titanium alloy was immersed in Al–Li alloy melt containing 0%, 1%, and 2% lithium at 680 °C, 700 °C, and 720 °C for 0.5 h, 1 h, and 2 h. The structure and growth law of the diffusion reaction layer at solid–liquid interface were studied, and the growth kinetic equation of the diffusion reaction layer was established. In addition, Ti content in Al–Li alloy melt was determined and its dissolution rate was calculated. The results showed that with the increase of lithium content in the melt, the thickness of the diffusion reaction layer (DRL) between TC4 titanium alloy and the melt increased significantly, and the activation energies of the diffusion reaction obtained were 141.28 kJ·mol−1 in liquid Al, 86.62 kJ·mol−1 in liquid Al–1Li alloy, and 43.42 kJ·mol−1 in liquid Al–2Li alloy, respectively. The dissolution rate of Ti in Al–Li alloy melts increased with the increase of lithium content in melts. When the holding time reached 3 h in a TC4 crucible, the content of Ti dissolved in the Al–2Li alloy melt was 0.105 wt%.

Position sensitive measurement of trace lithium in the brain with NIK (neutron-induced coincidence method) in suicide

Mood disorder is the leading intrinsic risk factor for suicidal ideation. Questioning any potency of mood-stabilizers, the monovalent cation lithium still holds the throne in medical psychiatric treatment. Furthermore, lithium`s anti-aggressive and suicide-preventive capacity in clinical practice is well established. But little is still known about trace lithium distribution and any associated metabolic effects in the human body. We applied a new technique (neutron-induced coincidence method “NIK”) utilizing the 6Li(n,α)3H reaction for the position sensitive, 3D spatially resolved detection of lithium traces in post-mortem human brain tissue in suicide versus control. NIK allowed, for the first time in lithium research, to collect a three dimensional high resolution map of the regional trace lithium content in the non lithium-medicated human brain. The results show an anisotropic distribution of lithium, thus indicating a homeostatic regulation under physiological conditions as a remarkable link to essentiality. In contrast to suicide we could empirically prove significantly higher endogenous lithium concentrations in white compared to gray matter as a general trend in non-suicidal individuals and lower lithium concentrations in emotion-modulating regions in suicide.