Lithium oxide

Chemical properties

finely divided white powder(s) or crusty material; readily absorbs CO2 and H2O from the atmospheric; made by heating LiOH to ~800°C in a vacuum or by thermal decomposition of lithium peroxide; used in ceramics and special glass formulations and in lithium thermal batteries [HAW93] [MER06] [KIR81] [FMC93]

The Uses of Lithium oxide

Lithium oxide is a strong alkali that absorbs carbon dioxide and water from the atmosphere. It is used in manufacturing ceramics and special types of glass.

The Uses of Lithium oxide

Ceramics and special glass formulations, carbon dioxide absorbent.Lithium oxide is used as a flux in ceramic glazes, co-dopant with yttria in the zirconia ceramic top coat and as the cathode in the lithium ion batteries, which is used in power electronic devices like mobile phones, laptop computers and battery-powered cars. It is also used to prepare lithium hydroxide and lithium metal by electrolysis.

Preparation

Industrial and laboratory preparations. Only small volumes of material are prepared industrially. Both industrial and laboratory preparations require the thermal decomposition of lithium peroxide or of lithium hydroxide.
Lithium peroxide, Li202 , is converted to lithium oxide, Li20, and oxygen by heating to 450° in a stream of helium gas.
Thermal dehydration of lithium hydroxide is carried out at 675°C±10° under vacuum in a nickel container lined with silver foil.
Lithium carbonate may be converted to lithium oxide and carbon dioxide by heating the material to 700°C under vacuum in a platinum boat.
Industrial uses. There are no current industrial uses which consume large quantities of lithium oxide.
Lithium oxide reacts with water as it dissolves to form a solution of lithium hydroxide. Lithium oxide is a strong base and reacts typically with acidic gases and liquids to form lithium salts. At elevated temperatures, lithium oxide also reacts with many solid nonmetal oxides (Si02, B2O3, etc.) and metal oxides (A1203 , Fe2C>3, etc.). High-temperature reactions are the basis for the fluxing action of lithium oxide, lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate. Care must be taken to avoid the reaction of lithium oxide with reaction vessels at high temperatures.

General Description

Lithium oxide is a white crystalline solid. Its a strong base. It reacts with water and forms lithium hydroxide.

Structure and conformation

Solid lithium oxide adopts an antifluorite structure with four-coordinated Li+ centers and eight-coordinated oxides.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.