1. A method of producing hydrogen and lithium comprising: heating lithium hydride to form liquid-phase lithium hydride; reducing an ambient pressure over the liquid-phase lithium hydride; extracting hydrogen and gaseous-phase lithium metal from the liquid-phase lithium hydride; condensing the gaseous-phase lithium metal as purified solid-phase lithium metal; and melting the solid-phase lithium metal to form refined liquid-phase lithium metal.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising hydriding the refined liquid-phase lithium metal.
3. The method of claim 1 further comprising: hydriding the refined liquid-phase lithium metal to form re-charged lithium hydride; and again performing the steps of claim 1 at least one time using the re-charged lithium hydride as the lithium material.
4. The method of claim 1 further comprising retarding a formation of a barrier crust adjacent the liquid-phase lithium hydride.
5. The method of claim 4 wherein the step of retarding the formation of the barrier crust comprises sparging the liquid-phase lithium hydride with an inert gas.
6. The method of claim 4 wherein the step of retarding the formation of the barrier crust comprises agitating the liquid lithium hydride with an energy having a periodic waveform.