The first lithium ore, lithium permeable feldspar (LiAlSi4O10), was discovered by Brazilians on the Swedish island Ut ö in the 1890s. When it is thrown into a fire, it will emit a strong crimson flame. Johan August Arfvedson of Stockholm analyzed it and deduced that it contains previously unknown metals. He called it lithium. He realized that it was a new alkali metal element. However, unlike sodium, it could not be separated by electrolysis. In 1821, William Brande electrolyzed a small amount of lithium, but this was not enough for experiments. It was not until 1855 that Robert Bunsen, a German chemist, and Augustus Matthiessen, a British chemist, obtained bulk lithium by electrolysis of lithium chloride. The English word for lithium comes from Greek lithos, which means "stone". The first syllable of Lithos is pronounced "Li". Because it is metal, add the radical "Project" on the left. The content of lithium in the crust is much less than that of potassium and sodium [2], and its compounds are rare, which is an inevitable factor that lithium was discovered later than potassium and sodium. The second year after the discovery of lithium, it was re analyzed and confirmed by French chemist Vokland.
Lithium, atomic number 3, atomic weight 6.941, is the lightest alkali metal element. The element name comes from Greek, which originally means "stone". In 1817, it was discovered by Swedish scientist Avwecong when analyzing the lithium feldspar deposit. The main lithium minerals in the nature are spodumene, lepidolite, tremolite and phosphorite. Lithium can be found in human and animal bodies, soil and mineral water, cocoa powder, tobacco leaves and seaweed. Natural lithium has two isotopes: lithium-6 and lithium-7.
Lithium metal is a silver white light metal; Melting point: 180.54 ° C, boiling point: 1342 ° C, density: 0.534 g/cm ³， Hardness 0.6. Lithium metal is soluble in liquid ammonia. Unlike other alkali metals, lithium reacts slowly with water at room temperature, but can react with nitrogen to form black lithium nitride crystals. The weak acid salts of lithium are hardly soluble in water. Among alkali metal chlorides, only lithium chloride is easily soluble in organic solvents. The flame of the volatile salt of lithium is dark red, which can be used to identify lithium. Lithium is easily combined with oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, etc., and can be used as deoxidizer in metallurgical industry. Lithium can also be used as a component of lead based alloys and light alloys such as beryllium, magnesium and aluminum. Lithium has important applications in the atomic energy industry.
In August 2018, the scientific research team led by the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences found a strange celestial body relying on the large scientific device LAMOST. Its lithium content is about 3000 times that of similar celestial bodies, and its absolute lithium abundance is as high as 4.51, making it the star with the highest lithium abundance known to mankind. This important astronomical discovery was published online in the international scientific journal Nature Astronomy in the early morning of August 7, Beijing time [1].
