Lithium carbonate

Lithium carbonate is an inorganic salt with formula Li₂CO₃. It is used as a source of lithium in medicine, ceramics, glassmaking, and battery-material production.

Lithium therapy: The use of lithium compounds to treat and prevent episodes of bipolar disorder. Lithium carbonate is a widely used oral form of lithium therapy.
Lithium: A soft, highly reactive alkali metal and the lightest solid element. Lithium carbonate releases lithium ions when it dissolves or reacts.
Johan August Arfwedson: A Swedish chemist who identified lithium in mineral analysis in 1817. His discovery established the element later isolated and used in lithium carbonate.
Lithium citrate: A lithium salt of citric acid used in some medicinal and industrial formulations. It is another lithium salt, but its citrate anion gives it different formulation properties.
Bipolar disorder: A mood disorder involving episodes of mania or hypomania and often depression. Lithium carbonate is a long-established medication for preventing mood episodes.
Carbonate: The polyatomic ion CO₃²⁻ and its salts, formed from carbonic acid. The carbonate ion determines lithium carbonate’s acid reactions and thermal decomposition.
William Thomas Brande: An English chemist who first isolated metallic lithium by electrolysis in 1821. Lithium’s isolation made its compounds, including lithium carbonate, accessible to chemical study.
Lithium hydroxide: A strongly basic lithium compound with formula LiOH, used in batteries and carbon-dioxide capture. It is a different lithium feedstock and reacts differently from the comparatively mild carbonate salt.
Lithium-ion battery: A rechargeable battery that stores energy through lithium-ion movement between electrodes. Lithium carbonate supplies lithium for some cathode-material manufacturing routes.
Solubility: The extent to which a substance dissolves in a specified solvent under stated conditions. Lithium carbonate is only sparingly soluble in water, affecting its handling and use.

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