Founded in 2020, the five-year-old startup has made significant progress in offering an alternative to traditional lithium-ion batteries, which rely on graphite, cobalt, nickel, or manganese, and are vulnerable to geopolitical risks, supply chain disruptions, and environmental issues.
Pure Lithium, a vertically integrated lithium metal battery technology company, has received one of the chemical industry’s highest honors: the 2025 Green Chemistry Challenge Award. This award recognizes outstanding achievements in green chemistry that improve human health, protect the environment, and support economic growth.
The company’s Brine to Battery™ technology was recognized in the category of Chemical and Process Design for Circularity presented by the American Chemical Society. Itsprocess could redefine the global battery supply chain and cut environmental impacts.
Redefining the Battery Supply Chain
Pure Lithium’s success centers on its vertically integrated process for making lithium metal batteries. Usually, the journey from lithium extraction to anode production involves multiple, energy-intensive steps spread across continents. Materials often travel thousands of miles before becoming part of the final battery, which increases costs and carbon emissions.
Pure Lithium’s Brine to Battery™ technology bypasses this fragmented model. It extracts lithium metal directly from North American brines and transforms it into battery anodes in a streamlined process. It integrates metal extraction and anode production, unlocking unconventional lithium sources while producing a pure lithium metal anode.
The resulting battery offers significant improvements in cell performance, cost, and safety while eliminating reliance on graphite, cobalt, nickel, and manganese. Those materials are often impacted by geopolitical risk, supply chain volatility, and environmental harm.
The process advantageously eliminates the need for graphite, a resource-intensive component in today’s lithium-ion batteries. The result is a lithium metal anode that is cleaner, simpler, and more sustainable.
Founder and CEO Emilie Bodoin, who is a recognized lithium expert, emphasized the importance of the leap forward her company has made:
“We are honored to be acknowledged by the American Chemical Society, the nation’s premier organization of chemistry professionals, for our technology, which reduces energy consumption and carbon emissions across the battery supply chain. We have demonstrated that our technology is capable of eliminating some of the most energy-intensive steps in anode manufacturing.”
Next-Generation Battery Performance
Pure Lithium’s technology represents a major performance upgrade, doubling the energy density of today’s lithium-ion alternatives. This greatly benefits applications ranging from electric vehicles to grid storage.
Perhaps most notably, Pure Lithium has achieved cycle lives upwards of 5,000 cycles in small pouch cells. This marks a significant milestone for lithium metal batteries, which have historically struggled with longevity.
These milestones mark the company’s transition from pure R&D into prototyping at its newly opened facilities in Chicago, a ready indicator that Pure Lithium is prepared to scale and advance next-generation batteries toward commercialization.
Advantages of the Brine to Battery Technology
Through the use of North American lithium brines, the company avoids these supply challenges and shrinks its environmental footprint.
The company’s streamlined production model also offers potential cost savings by eliminating expensive intermediate steps and reducing the length of supply routes.
For automakers, utilities, and other end users, this could mean more affordable, higher-performance batteries with a lighter carbon footprint.
Recognition From the Scientific Community
Past winning technologies of the Challenge Awards have reduced nearly one billion pounds of hazardous chemicals, saved more than 20 billion gallons of water, and cut nearly eight billion pounds of carbon dioxide emissions.
Albert G. Horvath, CEO of the American Chemical Society, applauded the impact of this year’s honorees:
“Congratulations to this year’s winners! Their work reflects the creativity and commitment of both academia and industry. These achievements show how green chemistry pushes science’s boundaries and has a lasting impact on society and the environment.”
In addition, earlier this year, Pure Lithium received the R&D Achievement Award, and Bodoin was named Innovator in Energy at the Reuters Global Energy Transition Awards. She also earned the title of Trailblazing Woman of the Year at the Fastmarkets Voltas Awards.
These recognitions highlight Pure Lithium’s technology and Bodoin’s leadership in the growing energy storage industry.
Future Opportunities
Pure Lithium is now scaling its breakthrough with prototyping now underway in Chicago.
As the U.S. and global partners advance toward ambitious decarbonization goals, technologies like Brine to Battery™ will be essential for enabling cleaner transportation, smarter grids, and more resilient energy systems.
With strong validation from the scientific community and the broader energy industry, Pure Lithium appears well-positioned to lead the next chapter of battery innovation.
