Oxide Powder

Lithium oxide (Li2O) or lithia is an inorganic chemical compound. It is a white solid. Although not specifically important, many materials are assessed on the basis of their Li2O content. For example, the Li2O content of the principal lithium mineral spodumene (LiAlSi2O6) is 8.03%

Lithium oxide is considered to be one of the best solid breeder materials for a nuclear fusion reactor as it has many advantages including high lithium density, high melting point, high thermal conductivity and isotropic crystal structure etc.

Lithium Oxide is a highly insoluble thermally stable Lithium source suitable for glass, optic and ceramic applications. Lithium oxide is a white solid also known as lithia, it is produced when lithium metal burns in the presence of oxygen. Oxide compounds are not conductive to electricity. However, certain perovskite structured oxides are electronically conductive finding application in the cathode of solid oxide fuel cells and oxygen generation systems. They are compounds containing at least one oxygen anion and one metallic cation.

In the solid state lithium oxide adopts an antifluorite structure which is related to the CaF2, fluorite structure with Li cations substituted for fluoride anions and oxide anions substituted for calcium cations. The ground state gas phase Li2O molecule is linear with a bond length consistent with strong ionic bonding. VSEPR theory would predict a bent shape similar to H2O.

Lithium oxide is used as a flux in ceramic glazes; and creates blues with copper and pinks with cobalt. Lithium oxide reacts with water and steam, forming lithium hydroxide and should be isolated from them. Its usage is also being investigated for non-destructive emission spectroscopy evaluation and degradation monitoring within thermal barrier coating systems. It can be added as a co-dopant with yttria in the zirconia ceramic top coat, without a large decrease in expected service life of the coating.