Physical and chemical properties
Lithium metallurgy

Lithium, like all alkali metals, has an outer orbital occupied by a single electron. The valence electron, due to the shielding effect of a full layer on the nucleus, is weakly retained. As a result, lithium chemistry is essentially ionic. However, lithium can also form covalent bonds with organic compounds.

The atomic properties of lithium are as follows:

• electronic configuration, 1s²2s¹ ;

• covalent radius, 1.34 Å ;

• ionic radius of Li⁺, 0.60 Å ;

• metal radius, 1.55 Å.

Lithium's ionization energy (5.39 eV) is higher than those of other alkali metals, and its electrode potential is relatively low (- 3.02 V) due to the ion's high heat of hydration, caused by its small size and low shielding effect on the nuclear charge.