Chinese researchers have made a significant advancement in extracting rubidium directly from salt lake brine, potentially reducing the country's reliance on imports for this critical metal. Currently, China imports two-thirds of its rubidium needs, mainly from Canada.

This new industrial-scale process allows for the production of ultra-pure rubidium chloride from materials with extremely low concentrations of rubidium, providing a new domestic source for this strategically important material.

The Qinghai Institute of Salt Lakes (ISL) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) recently announced that they have successfully produced rubidium chloride that is 99.9% pure from potassium chloride material containing only 0.001% rubidium.

Rubidium is a crucial metal for various industries, including electronics, specialty glass, and aerospace. It also has military, technological, and civilian applications. For instance, rubidium ions can enhance the performance of perovskite solar cells, and rubidium atomic clocks are known for their precision, losing less than one second every 3.7 million years. Rubidium chloride is utilized in medical research for tumour cell imaging.