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Battery News: Lithium-Ion Accumulators |
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| 31 March 2008 The lithium-ion rechargeable battery family is growing and growing... 'Lithium-ion' is rapidly developing into a general term for a family of rechargeable batteries. Although the term lithium-ion rechargeable batterie originally referred to the rechargeable cell developed in 1991 by Sony, with its cathode based on lithium cobalt oxide and a carbon anode, today the term applies to a whole range of technological variants whose common feature is that the energy transportation within the cell takes place through the flow of free lithium ions and their reversible deposit (intercalation) in the electrodes. In trying to optimise costs, achieve greater energy density, improve performance, durability and operating life, reduce environmental impact and increase intrinsic safety the intensive research of recent years has led to lithium-ion cells with optimised cathodes, anodes and electrolytes made of different types of materials. The Ideal Lithium-Ion Technology for Every Requirement It is unlikely that there will ever be a super cell for all applications, but battery suppliers can today deploy a broad range of technologies and can design exactly the right battery pack for the power profile required by their customers in each specific case – whether, for instance, this involves power tools which benefit from the enormous performance density of lithium-manganese high-current cells or for example applications where the safety requirements or need for long operating life and durability tends to make cathodes of lithium-iron phosphate or anodes of lithium titanate the first choice. The latter criteria particularly apply to the potentially huge market for hybrid electric vehicles. See also: Lithium-Ion Rechargeable Batteries Lithium-Ion/Manganese High-Current Secondary Cells Lithium-Iron Phosphate Rechargeable Batteries Lithium Titanate Rechargeable Batteries Murphy's Law and Laptop Batteries It has proven difficult to develop laptop batteries that deliver markedly improved performance; according to one of the many aspects of Murphy's Law the power consumption of laptops appears always to increase at the same rate as the improved performance of the rechargeable batteries – which means that the final result always remains just as unsatisfactory... Lithium-Ion Cells in Pure Solid Chemicals Despite many improvements in lithium-ion technologies, there is potential for further technology development. One relates to lithium-ion cells with solid electrolytes, because these promise a maximum of safety as well as durability and long operating life. Although such electrolytes provide excellent performances in primary (i.e. non-rechargeable) lithium cells, for instance in heart pacemakers, their performance is still not acceptable for secondary batteries. Many exciting further developments can be expected for lithium-ion in the future. © Marc Stenzel |
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