A speciality derivative of lithium hydroxide, Lithium hydroxide anhydrous is produced using inert atmosphere and controlled calcination.
Lithium Hydroxide Anhydrous is a crystalline lithium source, soluble in water, for uses compatible with higher (basic) pH environments.
Produced with min. 98% LiOH content, it rapidly absorbs moisture and carbon dioxide.
Bee Chems manufactures lithium hydroxide in the anhydrous, ultra-dry form for pharmaceutical, thermal and battery-electrolyte applications. Produced under an inert atmosphere by controlled calcination at a minimum 98% LiOH content, it is supplied in moisture-tight packing that protects the material from the atmospheric moisture and carbon dioxide it rapidly absorbs.
Lithium hydroxide is one of the more demanding alkali chemicals to manufacture and store well. Its value in a process usually depends less on headline assay than on what has not got into it — carbonate picked up from the air, or moisture absorbed between packing and use. Both are controlled at source in our plant rather than corrected later.
As a lithium hydroxide manufacturer based in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, we supply industrial quantities against COA, with packing and documentation configured for your process. Lithium hydroxide sits within our wider lithium salts and solutions range.
Lithium hydroxide is an inorganic base — the hydroxide of lithium, and the first member of the alkali-metal hydroxide series. It is supplied as a white crystalline solid that dissolves in water to give a strongly alkaline solution, and is mildly soluble in ethanol.
Two properties define how it behaves in practice, and both follow from the small size of the lithium ion:
It is the least soluble and least basic of the alkali hydroxides. Where sodium and potassium hydroxide dissolve almost without limit, lithium hydroxide reaches roughly 12.8 g per 100 mL at 20 °C. This makes it the correct choice where a lithium ion is required but an aggressively caustic solution is not.
It is strongly hygroscopic and reacts with carbon dioxide. Left open to the air, lithium hydroxide takes up water vapour and then reacts with atmospheric CO2 to form lithium carbonate. This is not a defect — it is the basis of one of the compound’s most important applications — but it governs how the material must be packed, stored and handled.
Bee Chems supplies the anhydrous (ultra dry) grade, in which water of crystallisation has been driven off by controlled calcination under an inert atmosphere. This is the grade specified where any water content would interfere with the process.
The lithium hydroxide formula is LiOH. One lithium atom, one oxygen, one hydrogen, giving a molecular weight of 23.95 g/mol — the lowest of any alkali hydroxide, and the reason lithium hydroxide delivers more chemistry per kilogram than its sodium or potassium equivalents.
| Property | Lithium Hydroxide Anhydrous (LiOH) |
|---|---|
| Chemical formula | LiOH |
| Molecular weight | 23.95 g/mol |
| CAS number | 1310-65-2 |
| EC number | 215-183-4 |
| Appearance | White crystalline solid |
| Assay | min. 98% LiOH |
| Solubility in water (20 °C) | ~12.8 g/100 mL |
| Solubility in ethanol | Slight |
| Melting point | 462 °C |
| Decomposition | To lithium oxide (Li2O) above ~900 °C |
| Density | ~1.46 g/cm3 |
| pH (1% solution) | Strongly alkaline, ~11 |
| Hygroscopicity | Rapidly absorbs moisture and carbon dioxide |
| UN number | UN2680 |
| Hazard class | 8 (corrosive) |
Lithium hydroxide absorbs carbon dioxide according to:
2 LiOH + CO2 → Li2CO3 + H2O
On a stoichiometric basis, 47.9 g of lithium hydroxide takes up 44 g of carbon dioxide — roughly 0.92 kg of CO2 per kg of LiOH, the highest mass efficiency of any common chemical absorbent. That single figure explains both the storage discipline this product demands and its use in confined-atmosphere life support.
| Lithium hydroxide | Sodium hydroxide | Potassium hydroxide | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Formula | LiOH | NaOH | KOH |
| Molecular weight | 23.95 | 40.00 | 56.11 |
| CAS number | 1310-65-2 | 1310-73-2 | 1310-58-3 |
| Solubility in water (20 °C) | ~12.8 g/100 mL | ~111 g/100 mL | ~121 g/100 mL |
| Relative basicity | Weakest | Intermediate | Stronger |
| CO2 capacity per kg | Highest | Lower | Lower |
Where the process needs the lithium ion specifically — or the highest CO2 uptake per kilogram carried — lithium hydroxide is not interchangeable with the cheaper alkalis. If you are comparing lithium salts rather than alkali hydroxides, see lithium bromide vs lithium chloride.
The anhydrous grade is made by controlled calcination under an inert atmosphere. Two elements of that matter to a buyer:
Controlled calcination. Water of crystallisation is driven off within a managed temperature profile. Overheating drives decomposition toward lithium oxide and depresses assay; underheating leaves residual moisture in a product sold specifically for being dry.
Inert atmosphere. Calcining in air would expose freshly dried, highly reactive material to atmospheric CO2 at exactly the moment it is most able to absorb it, converting surface material to lithium carbonate. Excluding air during production is what keeps carbonate low in the finished product.
Because the material is produced in our own plant rather than imported and repacked, assay and carbonate content are controlled at source — not inherited from someone else’s process and discovered on arrival.
If you are working to a defined internal specification, send it to us and we will confirm our material against it line by line.
Lithium hydroxide is used as an electrolyte additive in alkaline storage batteries. Added to potassium hydroxide electrolyte in nickel-iron and nickel-cadmium cells, it improves capacity retention and extends cycle life by moderating degradation at the positive electrode. The quantities are small relative to the electrolyte volume, which places the emphasis firmly on purity — trace metals introduced with the additive can undo the benefit.
Lithium hydroxide’s thermal characteristics make it suitable as a heat transfer medium in specialised thermal systems, including thermal-storage applications where the material’s heat capacity and stable behaviour over a wide temperature range are the deciding factors.
Lithium hydroxide is used in the manufacture of lithium salts for drug formulations, notably those used in the treatment of bipolar disorder. Pharmaceutical synthesis routes are unforgiving of alkali-metal and heavy-metal contamination, so material destined for this use is qualified on its impurity profile rather than assay alone. It is also used more broadly in organic synthesis as a selective base, particularly in ester hydrolysis, where its comparatively mild basicity is an advantage over sodium or potassium hydroxide. For a related lithium salt used in the same field, see lithium acetate in organic synthesis.
Following 2 LiOH + CO2 → Li2CO3 + H2O, lithium hydroxide absorbs carbon dioxide at approximately 0.92 kg per kg — a mass efficiency no other common absorbent matches. Where the binding constraint is weight rather than cost, this makes LiOH the scrubbing medium of choice for confined atmospheres.
The same chemistry is why this product must be kept sealed. Material left open does not simply get damp; it converts progressively and irreversibly to lithium carbonate, and assay falls accordingly.
Where mass is not the binding constraint, soda lime is the usual CO2 medium and is considerably cheaper — see our guide to CO2 absorbents, medical grade soda lime, diving grade soda lime and gas absorbents.
Packing: 10 kg and 25 kg heat-sealed poly/foil bags in UN drums.
The poly/foil construction is not incidental. A foil laminate provides a genuine moisture and gas barrier where plain polythene does not, and heat-sealing removes the closure as a leak path. The UN drum then provides the mechanical and regulatory protection required for a Class 8 corrosive in transit.
Lithium hydroxide is corrosive and causes severe skin burns and eye damage. Dust is irritating to the respiratory tract.
A full MSDS/SDS is supplied with every consignment and is available on request.
Explore our full lithium salts and solutions range: lithium chloride, lithium bromide, lithium acetate, lithium silicate, and other lithium products including lithium fluoride and lithium nitrate.
Related reading: Lithium Bromide vs Lithium Chloride · Top 7 Applications of Lithium Chloride · Lithium Acetate in Organic Synthesis · Best Lithium Bromide Suppliers
Ans: The lithium hydroxide formula is LiOH — one lithium, one oxygen, one hydrogen. Its molecular weight is 23.95 g/mol and its CAS number is 1310-65-2.
Ans: Yes. Lithium hydroxide dissolves in water at approximately 12.8 g per 100 mL at 20 °C, forming a strongly alkaline solution. It is the least soluble of the alkali-metal hydroxides, but it is not insoluble.
Ans: Lithium hydroxide is a base — a strong base in the conventional sense, though the weakest of the alkali-metal hydroxides. A 1% solution has a pH of around 11.
Ans: Ultra dry, or anhydrous, lithium hydroxide has had its water of crystallisation removed by controlled calcination under an inert atmosphere. Bee Chems produces it at a minimum 98% LiOH content for applications where water content cannot be tolerated.
Ans: It is used as a storage-battery electrolyte additive, as a heat transfer medium, and in the manufacture of lithium salts for pharmaceutical formulations. It also absorbs carbon dioxide at high capacity, forming lithium carbonate.
Ans: Stoichiometrically, about 0.92 kg of carbon dioxide per kg of lithium hydroxide, following 2 LiOH + CO2 → Li2CO3 + H2O. That is the highest mass efficiency of any common chemical CO2 absorbent.
Ans: Because it is hygroscopic and reacts with atmospheric carbon dioxide. Exposed material converts progressively to lithium carbonate, which reduces assay. Bee Chems supplies it in heat-sealed poly/foil bags inside UN drums for this reason.
Ans: Lithium hydroxide has a much lower molecular weight (23.95 vs 40.00 g/mol), is far less soluble in water, and is a weaker base. It is chosen where the lithium ion itself is required, where milder basicity is an advantage, or where CO2 capacity per kilogram matters.
Ans: Yes. It is classed as corrosive (UN2680, Class 8) and causes severe skin burns and eye damage. Handle with chemical-resistant gloves and eye protection, and consult the SDS supplied with every consignment.
Ans: 1310-65-2.
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