With the development of light and rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, global demand for lithium has increased considerably in recent years. This has drawn more attention to how lithium is produced, especially on primary extraction operations such as those at the Salar de Atacama in Northern Chile. There are concerns that brine extraction at the Atacama could irreversibly damage the basin's complex hydrological system. However, differing opinions over the definition of water have frustrated basic action measures for minimizing impacts of operations like these. Some lithium industry stakeholders have historically described brine as a mineral, while others emphasize that brine is also a type of water in a complex network of different water resources. In this communication, we show that brines are undeniably a type of water. We support this position by investigating brine's water molecular structure using molecular dynamics simulations and comparing Gibbs formation energy of the brine using thermodynamic principles. Molecular dynamics show that the structure of water molecules in brine is similar to the structure of molecules in pure water at a pressure of 1.2 atm. The analysis of Gibbs formation energy shows that more than 99% of the brine's formation energy is directly from water, not dissolved minerals.

随着电动汽车轻型和可充电电池的发展，近年来全球对锂的需求大幅增加。这引起了人们对锂生产方式的更多关注，尤其是在智利北部阿塔卡马盐沼等初级开采作业中。有人担心阿塔卡马的盐水提取可能会不可逆转地破坏该盆地复杂的水文系统。然而，对水定义的不同意见阻碍了将此类操作的影响降至最低的基本行动措施。一些锂行业利益相关者历来将卤水描述为一种矿物，而其他人则强调卤水也是不同水资源复杂网络中的一种水。在本次交流中，我们表明盐水不可否认是一种水。我们通过使用分子动力学模拟研究盐水的水分子结构并使用热力学原理比较盐水的吉布斯形成能来支持这一立场。分子动力学表明，盐水中的水分子结构与 1.2 atm 压力下的纯水中的分子结构相似。对吉布斯地层能量的分析表明，超过 99% 的卤水地层能量直接来自水，而不是溶解的矿物质。