Brown algae (Phaeophyta) includes Kelps (Macrocystis, Laminaria) and Ascophyllum, Fucus, and Sargassum. Alginic Acid (Alginate) is a colloidal product used for thickening, suspending, stabilizing, emulsifying, gel-forming, or film-forming, as required. 1  About half of the alginate produced is used for making ice cream and other dairy products, the rest is used in other products, including shaving cream, rubber, or paint.
Lithium is a Group 1 (IA) element containing just a single valence electron (1s 2 2s 1). Group 1 elements are called alkali metals. Lithium is a solid only about half as dense as water and lithium metal is the least dense metal. A freshly cut chunk of lithium is silvery, but tarnishes in a minute or so in air to give a grey surface. Its chemistry is dominated by its tendency to lose an electron to form Li + .
The lightest of all metals, lithium is the key ingredient in the rechargeable batteries that keep cell phones and laptops humming. Chile is the Saudi Arabia of lithium. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, this single ancient lake bed contains 27% of the worldâs reserve base of the metal. Until recently lithium was a minor commodity, used in small quantities by manufacturers of glass, grease and mood-stabilizing drugs.