GREENSBORO, N.C. (November 12, 2025) — As Toyota expands its footprint in our state, another breakthrough right here in the Triad is putting our area on the national map for battery innovation. A new discovery by UNCG researchers could change the way lithium batteries are made.
Lithium batteries power almost everything these days such as phones, laptops, and electric cars. But getting lithium out of the ground is a long, expensive process that requires large-scale mining. A team at UNCG believes they’ve found a cleaner, faster, and much cheaper solution: filtering lithium directly out of water.
Inside a Greensboro research lab located at Gateway Research Park’s North Campus location in Browns Summit, Minerva Lithium LLC scientists are running groundwater through a new type of filter they developed. As the water flows through, the filter captures lithium. That becomes one of the key building blocks of modern batteries.
Dr. Hemali Rathnayake, who leads the project, says this technology could be a game changer for the state.
“This is a huge breakthrough for North Carolina.”
And the timing couldn’t be better. The U.S. Department of Energy projects our need for lithium will grow up to 1,000 percent over the next decade. North Carolina already sits on valuable pockets of the mineral, but mining remains costly and environmentally challenging.
That’s where UNCG’s new process stands out. Instead of digging into the earth, researchers say they can extract lithium from lakes and groundwater in a fraction of the time.
“Currently it takes up to 18 months to get that lithium concentrated,” said PhD student Shawn Adams. “But in less than 48 hours, we can get 99 percent purity.”
UNCG estimates their method is also more than 60 percent cheaper than traditional mining.
“If we use this technology to extract lithium, then we can have a huge economic impact and job growth,” Rathnayake said.
To help the project reach major manufacturers, NCInnovation is investing in the research and promoting it to global companies that are already eyeing North Carolina.
“As global companies look to North Carolina and look specifically to this region, they are looking for workforce, but they are also looking for all the ripple effects of having really strong clusters of innovative technology,” said Michelle Bolas with NCInnovation.
From cutting-edge filtration to future battery demand, UNCG’s breakthrough could help drive the next wave of economic growth in our state.
Source: WFMY News 2, Ben Briscoe, author.