As part of the UnLimited project, various sorbents are currently under research considering a sustainable lithium extraction from geothermal fluids in Germany. Experiments in the laboratory revealed a higher lithium adsorption capacity of zeolites. Thus zeolites may represent promising alternatives to manganese oxides.
Further experiments by the KIT will investigate whether zeolites can be implemented in a test plant at the Bruchsal geothermal site and to what extent natural thermal water influences the adsorption behavior of the zeolites.