The U.S. Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is working with companies to test an approach that uses magnetic nanoparticles to capture critical materials, such as lithium, from various wastewater sources.

Lithium is an essential ingredient in many electronic and energy technologies, including the lightweight lithium-ion batteries that power everything from our phones to electric vehicles.

The global market for lithium is huge, but precious little is produced in the United States.

Not only does the patent-pending technology being developed at the Lab in Richland, Washington, provide an opportunity to produce lithium and other critical materials, it does the job much faster and at a lower cost.

At the heart of the process are magnetic nanoparticles surrounded by an adsorbent shell that latches onto the lithium and other metals found in water that is used in various industrial processes. That includes the water in geothermal power plants, known as geothermal brines, or water pulled from the subsurface during oil or gas production.