Lithium is a key raw material for the energy transition. Without it, there would be no high-performance batteries and, therefore, no electric vehicles or large-scale storage of solar and wind power. However, current extraction methods are far from environmentally friendly, involving evaporation ponds, use of non-sustainable chemicals, and the consumption of millions of litres of water. What makes your lithium extraction process so different from conventional methods?
Marten Huck: The key difference is sustainability. Traditional methods – like large-scale evaporation ponds in South America or hard-rock mining in Australia – consume huge amounts of water and chemicals, and leave a significant environmental footprint. Our electrochemical process allows lithium to be selectively extracted from aqueous sources such as geothermal brine or seawater without consuming the water itself. It passes through a reactor, where electrodes pull out the lithium ions. The remaining water can be returned to the system. We can then recover the lithium from the electrodes and process it further – making the method both efficient and environmentally friendly.
Your startup is being spun off from Forschungszentrum Jülich. How did that come about, and what support did you receive during the process?
Andreas Kuhlmann: The idea arose directly from our scientific work at the FZJ. Having already established that our concept was technically feasible, we knew it had commercial potential. Fortunately, the FZJ and our institute INW offer excellent support for spin-offs. A dedicated ‘Startup Village’ at the Brainergy Park in Jülich is our direct neighbour and the FZJ innovation department helps scientists turn their ideas into businesses – offering workshops on topics like customer discovery, marketing, and business planning. We are currently balancing our doctoral research work with startup development, but our goal is to eventually go all-in on the company.
What’s the long-term vision for your technology, and where could it be applied?
Andreas Kuhlmann: The potential is enormous because, although lithium is found worldwide, it often occurs in low concentrations, for example in geothermal water in places like Germany’s Upper Rhine region or in seawater. Our process makes it economically viable to tap into these smaller, regional sources. That allows for decentralised production, which reduces geopolitical risks and shortens supply chains. In the future, we could even extract lithium from seawater — an exciting technical and economic endeavour that we would like to undertake.
Such a complex field certainly thrives on international exchange. How have you experienced this in your own research?
Marten Huck: Our team is already international – we have colleagues from Egypt, China, South Korea, Argentina, and more. English is our working language. Beyond that, we actively collaborate with institutions like the University of Colorado Boulder (USA) and the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. They help us with membrane analysis and theoretical modelling, while we focus on experimental validation. Globally, there are only a handful of groups working on lithium electro-extraction at this level – in China, the U.S., and Germany. We’re in regular contact with the German teams, and although it’s harder with international groups due to distance, we all benefit from each other’s work.
What personal motivations drive you, and what hopes do you have for the future of your start-up?
Marten Huck: Our goal is to establish a genuinely sustainable alternative to existing lithium extraction processes.
Andreas Kuhlmann: Of course, we hope to build a successful business, but above all, we want to contribute meaningfully to the global energy transition. If we can demonstrate that technological innovation and environmental protection are not mutually exclusive, we will have achieved a great deal.
