{
  "node": {
    "id": "term:lithium-carbonate",
    "type": "Term",
    "label": "Lithium carbonate",
    "properties": {
      "id": "lithium-carbonate",
      "name": "Lithium carbonate",
      "abbr": "Li₂CO₃",
      "aka": [
        "LCE",
        "lithium carbonate equivalent"
      ],
      "section": "topic-sustainability",
      "definition": "The commodity form in which most lithium is traded and the lithium source for LFP and mid-nickel cathodes. Lithium carbonate equivalent, LCE, is the unit the industry uses to count lithium supply whatever its chemical form.",
      "related": [
        "lithium-hydroxide",
        "brine",
        "spodumene",
        "calcination",
        "lithium"
      ],
      "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/lithium-carbonate/",
      "mentions": []
    }
  },
  "edges": [
    {
      "id": "edge:3216",
      "source": "term:lithium-carbonate",
      "target": "topic:topic-sustainability",
      "type": "belongsTo",
      "properties": {
        "sourceFile": "terms.json"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "edge:3217",
      "source": "term:lithium-carbonate",
      "target": "term:lithium-hydroxide",
      "type": "relatedTo",
      "properties": {
        "sourceFile": "terms.json",
        "meaning": "Related context; not a causal claim"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "edge:3218",
      "source": "term:lithium-carbonate",
      "target": "term:brine",
      "type": "relatedTo",
      "properties": {
        "sourceFile": "terms.json",
        "meaning": "Related context; not a causal claim"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "edge:3219",
      "source": "term:lithium-carbonate",
      "target": "term:spodumene",
      "type": "relatedTo",
      "properties": {
        "sourceFile": "terms.json",
        "meaning": "Related context; not a causal claim"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "edge:3220",
      "source": "term:lithium-carbonate",
      "target": "term:calcination",
      "type": "relatedTo",
      "properties": {
        "sourceFile": "terms.json",
        "meaning": "Related context; not a causal claim"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "edge:3221",
      "source": "term:lithium-carbonate",
      "target": "term:lithium",
      "type": "relatedTo",
      "properties": {
        "sourceFile": "terms.json",
        "meaning": "Related context; not a causal claim"
      }
    }
  ],
  "neighbors": [
    {
      "id": "topic:topic-sustainability",
      "type": "Topic",
      "label": "Supply chain and regulation",
      "properties": {
        "id": "topic-sustainability",
        "name": "Supply chain and regulation",
        "lede": "Where the materials come from, what a battery’s carbon footprint is, and the rules that govern it from mine to market.",
        "context": "Keep boundaries, dates, geography and units.",
        "example": "Carbon footprints can be compared only with compatible boundaries and functional units.",
        "lesson_url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/fundamentals/cell-production/",
        "lesson_label": "Open production context"
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "term:lithium-hydroxide",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Lithium hydroxide",
      "properties": {
        "id": "lithium-hydroxide",
        "name": "Lithium hydroxide",
        "abbr": "LiOH",
        "section": "topic-sustainability",
        "definition": "The lithium chemical required for high-nickel cathodes, which must be fired at temperatures too low for lithium carbonate to react. It is made from spodumene directly or by converting carbonate.",
        "related": [
          "lithium-carbonate",
          "high-nickel",
          "calcination",
          "spodumene"
        ],
        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/lithium-hydroxide/",
        "mentions": []
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "term:brine",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Lithium brine",
      "properties": {
        "id": "brine",
        "name": "Lithium brine",
        "aka": [
          "salar",
          "DLE"
        ],
        "section": "topic-sustainability",
        "definition": "Lithium-rich salt water pumped from beneath the salt flats of Chile, Argentina and Bolivia and concentrated in evaporation ponds over a year or more. Direct lithium extraction aims to pull the lithium out chemically in days instead.",
        "related": [
          "spodumene",
          "lithium-carbonate",
          "critical-raw-materials"
        ],
        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/brine/",
        "mentions": []
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "term:spodumene",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Spodumene",
      "properties": {
        "id": "spodumene",
        "name": "Spodumene",
        "section": "topic-sustainability",
        "definition": "The hard-rock lithium ore, a lithium aluminium silicate mined mainly in Australia, concentrated to about 6 % Li₂O and shipped to converters, mostly in China, who turn it into carbonate or hydroxide.",
        "related": [
          "lithium-carbonate",
          "lithium-hydroxide",
          "brine",
          "critical-raw-materials"
        ],
        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/spodumene/",
        "mentions": []
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "term:calcination",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Calcination",
      "properties": {
        "id": "calcination",
        "name": "Calcination",
        "aka": [
          "lithiation",
          "sintering of CAM"
        ],
        "section": "topic-manufacturing",
        "definition": "Firing the precursor with a lithium source — lithium carbonate or, for high-nickel materials, lithium hydroxide — at 700–900 °C in kilns to form the layered oxide. Atmosphere and temperature profile control the crystal quality.",
        "related": [
          "precursor",
          "cathode-active-material",
          "lithium-hydroxide",
          "lithium-carbonate"
        ],
        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/calcination/",
        "mentions": [
          "layered-oxide"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "term:lithium",
      "type": "Term",
      "label": "Lithium",
      "properties": {
        "id": "lithium",
        "name": "Lithium",
        "abbr": "Li",
        "section": "topic-components",
        "definition": "The lightest metal, with the most negative electrode potential, which is why lithium cells have the highest voltage and specific energy of any practical chemistry. Inside a lithium-ion cell it exists only as Li⁺ ions in the electrolyte and in the electrode hosts, never as metal.",
        "related": [
          "lithium-ion",
          "lithium-metal-anode",
          "standard-potential",
          "lithium-carbonate"
        ],
        "lesson": "labs/battery-materials-lab/#battery-materials-lab",
        "url": "https://lemonergy.com/learn/glossary/lithium/",
        "mentions": [
          "electrode",
          "negative-electrode",
          "electrolyte",
          "specific-energy",
          "electrode-potential"
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}