Battery Authentication and Traceability – New Developments

Scientists at the John de Laeter Centre, Curtin University, Australia, have developed a technique for ‘fingerprinting’ lithium, a key ingredient in energy storage systems and rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles.

The fingerprinting technique, which is a first for lithium, detects unique chemical properties in the metal that indicate its country of provenance and even the site it was mined from. The researchers say they are using ‘lithium isotopes, strontium isotopes and others’ to verify the lithium’s Australian provenance.

Australia is, by far, the world’s leading lithium producer. It mines more than 55,000 tonnes per year of the relatively rare metal, corresponding to about 51.7% of global output.

Increasingly, Western governments and companies are looking to verify the provenance of lithium and other critical minerals to reduce reliance on low-cost Chinese processing (nearly 60% of the world’s lithium is processed in China). With Australia’s lithium industry set to implement fingerprinting technology, the US, China, and the EU will be watching closely and strategising the extent of their involvement.