What’s Lithium carbonate？

Lithium carbonate is an inorganic compound, the lithium salt of carbonate with the formula Li2CO3. This white salt is widely used in the processing of metal oxides and has received attention for the treatment for manic and bipolar disorder. It exists as the rare mineral zabuyelite. The CAS NO is 554-13-2.

Like related lithium salts, Li2CO3 is an ionic compound. Its solubility in water is low relative to other lithium salts. The isolation of lithium from aqueous extracts of lithium ores capitalizes on this poor solubility. Its apparent solubility increases tenfold under a mild pressure of carbon dioxide; this effect is due to the formation of the metastable bicarbonate.

The extraction of lithium carbonate at high pressures of CO2 and its precipitation upon depressuring is the basis of the Quebec process. Approximately 30,000 tons were produced in 1989. Lithium carbonate, and other carbonates of Group 1 do not decompose readily, unlike other carbonates. Li2CO3 decomposes at temperatures >1300 °C..

Lithium carbonate is an important industrial chemical. It forms low-melting fluxes with silica and other materials. Glasses derived from lithium carbonate are useful in ovenware. Lithium carbonate is a common ingredient in both low-fire and high-fire ceramic glaze. Its alkaline properties are conducive to changing the state of metal oxide colorants in glaze particularly red iron oxide (Fe2O3). Cement sets more rapidly when prepared with lithium carbonate, and is useful for tile adhesives. When added to aluminium trifluoride, it forms LiF which gives a superior electrolyte for the processing of aluminium. Lithium carbonate is an active material of carbon dioxide sensors. It is also used in the manufacture of most lithium-ion battery cathodes, which are made of lithium cobalt oxide.

What the Lithium carbonate uses frequently is Medical use.

In 1843, lithium carbonate was used as a new solvent for stones in the bladder. In 1859, some doctors recommended a therapy with lithium salts for a number of ailments, including gout, urinary calculi, rheumatism, mania, depression, and headache. In 1949, John Cade discovered the anti-manic effects of lithium ions. This finding led lithium, specifically lithium carbonate, to be used to treat mania associated with bipolar disorder.

Lithium carbonate is used to treat mania, the elevated phase of bipolar disorder. Lithium ions interfere with ion transport processes (see “sodium pump”) that relay and amplify messages carried to the cells of the brain. Mania is associated with irregular increases in protein kinase C (PKC) activity within the brain. Lithium carbonate and sodium valproate, another drug traditionally used to treat the disorder, act in the brain by inhibiting PKC’s activity and help to produce other compounds that also inhibit the PKC. Despite these findings, a great deal remains unknown regarding lithium's mood controlling properties.

Some studies have suggested therapeutic benefit of lithium carbonate in certain neuromuscular conditions like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and spinal muscular atrophy. A 2010 controlled trial of lithium carbonate in ALS did not confirm earlier suggestions, finding the compound ineffective and possibly toxic in ALS patients.

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