We explain what lithium is and where this chemical element comes from. Discovery, uses and presence in the human body.
What is lithium?
Lithium (Li) is a chemical element alkaline, metallic, diamagnetic but highly reactive, fast oxidation in air or in Water. In its pure form it is a metal soft color silvery-white and extremely light, which is not found in a free state in the nature.
It is an element similar to sodium, moderately abundant on our planet, especially in volcanic routes or salt flats (85% of its reserves are in Bolivian, Chilean and Argentine territory). Along with hydrogen and helium, lithium is one of the very first elements of the universe, whose creation would respond to the same big Bang.
Its name comes from the Greek word lithios, which means "stone", since it was discovered in ancient times as part of large rocks. Its modern understanding dates back to 1817, when Johann Arfvedson discovered it in a petalite mine in Sweden. Its production by electrolysis was much later, however, and its commercialization began in 1923 by a business German.
Like the other alkali metals, lithium is highly flammable and potentially explosive once exposed to air or, even more so, to water. It is also corrosive and in large quantities it can be toxic, by inhibiting the absorption of iodine vital to thyroid hormones.
Uses of lithium
Lithium has the following applications:
- Psychopharmaceuticals. Lithium salts (such as lithium carbonate) are used in psychiatric medicine as a mood stabilizer, since they inhibit episodes of mania and depression associated with bipolar illness and other mood disorders.
- Dryers. Compounds such as lithium nitrate, lithium chloride or lithium bromide have high hygroscopicity, that is, they greatly absorb the humidity atmospheric, and thus allow the air to dry in closed compartments.
- Debuggers. To extract the carbon dioxideIn submarines and spacecraft, lithium hydroxide is used as a scrubber.
- Alloys. It is used in alloys with aluminum, cadmium, copper and manganese to make ceramics, lenses, and in aeronautical construction.
- Lubricants Certain salts of lithium and stearic acid, such as lithium stearate, are used in the manufacture of high-use lubricants. temperatures.
- Manufacturing of batteries. Its electrochemical potential makes it ideal for the anode (positive pole) of electric batteries.
Lithium in the periodic table
Lithium is found together with the rest of the alkali metals such as sodium and potassium.
Lithium is represented by the chemical symbol Li and is found in the Periodic table in group 1, along with the rest of the alkali metals such as sodium (Na), potassium (K), rubidium (Rb), cesium (Cs) and francium (Fr). His atomic number is 3.
Lithium in the human body
Lithium can damage the human body, for example when it comes into contact with the skin. Being a powerful desiccant, it quickly extracts the humidity of it, causing burns.
The ingestion of compounds with lithium in controlled quantities can be beneficial in the face of certain psychiatric conditions since it acts on certain neurotransmitters, stabilizing the mood.
However, it increases cell permeability by replacing sodium in cell membranes, preventing the performance of the sodium potassium ATPase substrate pump, which is toxic on a large scale.