This startup fetches 99% of valuable lithium from polluted wastewater!

Lithium refining is highly water-intensive. It requires up to 2.1 million liters of water per ton of lithium produced. In regions such as the South American highlands, this contributes to water scarcity and rising environmental concerns. 

At the same time, sodium contamination remains one of the biggest challenges in lithium purification. Because sodium and lithium behave chemically almost identically. Current technologies struggle to separate these ions efficiently, resulting in wastewater streams that are discarded rather than reused.

A startup named IonIQs offers a solution designed for these exact conditions. By combining ion-selective membranes and electrodes, they recover up to 99% of lithium. This works even when sodium levels are high. 

Instead of relying on brines or mines, the company targets the overlooked waste streams generated by existing lithium refineries. These streams often contain valuable lithium, but no reliable method exists to recover it.

To better understand how their process works, we spoke to Antony Cyril Arulrajan, co-founder of IonIQs. This article contains notable highlights from our entire conversation.

This interview is part of our exclusive Scouted By GreyB series. Here, we speak with the founders of innovative startups to understand how their solutions address critical industry challenges and help ensure compliance with industry and government regulations. (Know more about startups scouted by GreyB!)

“We realized the industry had no mature technology to reuse lithium-rich wastewater, so we focused on pinpointing and removing sodium to unlock that hidden value.”

Extracting lithium from existing wastewater to meet the rising global demand

IonIQs is a technology company focused on recovering critical raw materials from industrial wastewater, with an emphasis on lithium. Their system uses a combination of membrane screening and electrochemical electrodes to isolate sodium ions from lithium-rich waste streams. By doing this, they help refineries increase output while reducing water use and environmental impact. The approach offers a strategic alternative to traditional mining and brine extraction by tapping previously unusable waste streams.

What is IonIQs all about?

Antony: We built IonIQs around a simple idea. We work with ions in water, add intelligence to the process, and build systems that solve real problems. Our focus is on purifying lithium from waste streams that still contain valuable material. These streams often include sodium, which is not suitable for batteries. By removing sodium, we help companies produce high-grade lithium for battery production and reach quality levels that traditional methods struggle to achieve.

How are you able to recover lithium even when sodium levels are high?

Antony: Our approach is very intentional. We do not focus on primary extraction; instead, we target the waste streams that conventional refineries struggle with. Sodium cannot be removed easily using standard methods because it behaves almost exactly like lithium. So we use two layers of screening. First, a membrane removes many impurities and provides some selectivity. Then our electrodes offer an additional level of selectivity, targeting sodium specifically. This allows us to recover almost all the lithium while extracting sodium with precision. The electrode itself is a 3D molecule that captures ions based on size and charge, enabling us to achieve these high recovery levels.

Why did you choose wastewater as your source instead of brines or mines?

Antony: It was a strategic choice. We saw two things happening at once. In our lab work, we were achieving strong sodium selectivity. In the industry, we noticed that most technologies aimed to selectively capture lithium, leaving behind waste streams with no viable use. These streams often end up in deserts or evaporation ponds. We realized that if sodium were the central barrier and we could remove it, we could turn these streams into a valuable resource. So we went straight into solving that problem.

Have you seen any industry benchmarks or unique cases during your tests?

Antony: We are not at the complete pilot stage yet. We are currently preparing a mini pilot that we can take directly to customer sites. Our technology removes charged species, meaning ions. In petrochemical wastewater, for example, there are oils and organics that our system is not suited for. But in lithium refining, where wastewater contains lithium carbonate and sodium carbonate, we can make a real difference. Producing one ton of lithium consumes massive amounts of water. If we can help refineries reuse their wastewater and improve yield by even 10 to 20 percent, it would have a meaningful environmental and economic impact.

Did membrane fouling pose a challenge, and how did you address it?

Antony: Fouling typically happens due to organic or inorganic buildup. In lithium refineries, the earlier steps remove organics, calcium, and magnesium. So the streams we treat only contain lithium and sodium carbonates. Under these conditions, we do not face fouling issues. If we were to work on earlier process steps where calcium or magnesium is present, we would need to manage scaling. But at this stage, it is not a problem.

Which industries or materials are most suitable for your technology?

Antony: Right now, we are focused on critical raw materials like lithium, cobalt, and magnesium. They are strategically important and rare, and the mining process requires significant water and energy. Recovering them from wastewater provides real environmental and economic value. As we scale and reduce capex, we can expand into areas such as agriculture to remove nitrates from water. But today, our highest impact is in the critical metals sector.

Beyond lithium, which other elements can your system recover?

Antony: At the moment, we work deeply with lithium waste streams and are already exploring magnesium and cobalt mines. We are also planning to look at cesium, which often appears as a byproduct in lithium mines. Many tailings contain cesium, and we want to see if we can selectively remove it. We have only validated our technology with lithium sources so far, but we plan to explore all of these areas.

What motivates you personally in your role as CTO?

Antony: I spent many years in academia inventing new things, but I often wondered whether they would ever help anyone in real life. When I validated this technology, I realized it could create a real impact. I initially focused on zero liquid discharge in India because I had seen those problems myself. Later, we learned that lithium was the right starting point because the problem was clear and the benefits were immense. In the last 1.5 years, we have moved from an idea to a near mini-pilot. Knowing that this could directly benefit people in the next few years is what keeps me going every day.

Meet our Interviewer – Raveena Singh, Senior Research Analyst at GreyB

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