Is Lithium-ion the Ideal Battery?

For many years, nickel-cadmium had been the only suitable battery for portable equipment from wireless communications to mobile computing. Nickel-metal-hydride and lithium-ion emerged In the early 1990s, fighting nose-to-nose to gain customer's acceptance. Today, lithium-ion is the fastest growing and most promising battery chemistry.

The lithium-ion battery

Pioneer work with the lithium battery began in 1912 under G.N. Lewis but it was not until the early 1970s when the first non-rechargeable lithium batteries became commercially available. lithium is the lightest of all metals, has the greatest electrochemical potential and provides the largest energy density for weight.
 
Attempts to develop rechargeable lithium batteries failed due to safety problems. Because of the inherent instability of lithium metal, especially during charging, research shifted to a non-metallic lithium battery using lithium ions. Although slightly lower in energy density than lithium metal, lithium-ion is safe, provided certain precautions are met when charging and discharging. In 1991, the Sony Corporation commercialized the first lithium-ion battery. Other manufacturers followed suit. 
 
The energy density of lithium-ion is typically twice that of the standard nickel-cadmium. There is potential for higher energy densities. The load characteristics are reasonably good and behave similarly to nickel-cadmium in terms of discharge. The high cell voltage of 3.6 volts allows battery pack designs with only one cell. Most of today's mobile phones run on a single cell. A nickel-based pack would require three 1.2-volt cells connected in series.
 
Lithium-ion is a low maintenance battery, an advantage that most other chemistries cannot claim. There is no memory and no scheduled cycling is required to prolong the battery's life. In addition, the self-discharge is less than half compared to nickel-cadmium, making lithium-ion well suited for modern fuel gauge applications. lithium-ion cells cause little harm when disposed.
 
Despite its overall advantages, lithium-ion has its drawbacks. It is fragile and requires a protection circuit to maintain safe operation. Built into each pack, the protection circuit limits the peak voltage of each cell during charge and prevents the cell voltage from dropping too low on discharge. In addition, the cell temperature is monitored to prevent temperature extremes. The maximum charge and discharge current on most packs are is limited to between 1C and 2C. With these precautions in place, the possibility of metallic lithium plating occurring due to overcharge is virtually eliminated.
 
Aging is a concern with most lithium-ion batteries and many manufacturers remain silent about this issue. Some capacity deterioration is noticeable after one year, whether the battery is in use or not. The battery frequently fails after two or three years. It should be noted that other chemistries also have age-related degenerative effects. This is especially true for nickel-metal-hydride if exposed to high ambient temperatures. At the same time, lithium-ion packs are known to have served for five years in some applications. 
 
Manufacturers are constantly improving lithium-ion. New and enhanced chemical combinations are introduced every six months or so. With such rapid progress, it is difficult to assess how well the revised battery will age. 
 
Storage in a cool place slows the aging process of lithium-ion (and other chemistries). Manufacturers recommend storage temperatures of 15°C (59°F). In addition, the battery should be partially charged during storage. The manufacturer recommends a 40% charge.
 
The most economical lithium-ion battery in terms of cost-to-energy ratio is the cylindrical 18650 (18 is the diameter and 650 the length in mm). This cell is used for mobile computing and other applications that do not demand ultra-thin geometry. If a slim pack is required, the prismatic lithium-ion cell is the best choice. These cells come at a higher cost in terms of stored energy.

Advantages

  • High energy density - potential for yet higher capacities.
     
  • Does not need prolonged priming when new. One regular charge is all that's needed.
     
  • Relatively low self-discharge - self-discharge is less than half that of nickel-based batteries.
     
  • Low Maintenance - no periodic discharge is needed; there is no memory.
     
  • Specialty cells can provide very high current to applications such as power tools.

Limitations

  • Requires protection circuit to maintain voltage and current within safe limits.
     
  • Subject to aging, even if not in use - storage in a cool place at 40% charge reduces the aging effect.
     
  • Transportation restrictions - shipment of larger quantities may be subject to regulatory control. This restriction does not apply to personal carry-on batteries.
     
  • Expensive to manufacture - about 40 percent higher in cost than nickel-cadmium.
     
  • Not fully mature - metals and chemicals are changing on a continuing basis.

The lithium polymer battery

The lithium-polymer differentiates itself from conventional battery systems in the type of electrolyte used. The original design, dating back to the 1970s, uses a dry solid polymer electrolyte. This electrolyte resembles a plastic-like film that does not conduct electricity but allows ions exchange (electrically charged atoms or groups of atoms). The polymer electrolyte replaces the traditional porous separator, which is soaked with electrolyte.

The dry polymer design offers simplifications with respect to fabrication, ruggedness, safety and thin-profile geometry. With a cell thickness measuring as little as one millimeter (0.039 inches), equipment designers are left to their own imagination in terms of form, shape and size. 

Unfortunately, the dry lithium-polymer suffers from poor conductivity. The internal resistance is too high and cannot deliver the current bursts needed to power modern communication devices and spin up the hard drives of mobile computing equipment. Heating the cell to 60°C (140°F) and higher increases the conductivity, a requirement that is unsuitable for portable applications.

To compromise, some gelled electrolyte has been added. The commercial cells use a separator/ electrolyte membrane prepared from the same traditional porous polyethylene or polypropylene separator filled with a polymer, which gels upon filling with the liquid electrolyte. Thus the commercial lithium-ion polymer cells are very similar in chemistry and materials to their liquid electrolyte counter parts. 

Lithium-ion-polymer has not caught on as quickly as some analysts had expected. Its superiority to other systems and low manufacturing costs has not been realized. No improvements in capacity gains are achieved - in fact, the capacity is slightly less than that of the standard lithium-ion battery. Lithium-ion-polymer finds its market niche in wafer-thin geometries, such as batteries for credit cards and other such applications.

Advantages

  • Very low profile - batteries resembling the profile of a credit card are feasible.
  • Flexible form factor - manufacturers are not bound by standard cell formats. With high volume, any reasonable size can be produced economically.
  • Lightweight - gelled electrolytes enable simplified packaging by eliminating the metal shell.
  • Improved safety - more resistant to overcharge; less chance for electrolyte leakage.

Limitations

  • Lower energy density and decreased cycle count compared to lithium-ion.
  • Expensive to manufacture.
  • No standard sizes. Most cells are produced for high volume consumer markets.
  • Higher cost-to-energy ratio than lithium-ion

Restrictions on lithium content for air travel

Air travelers ask the question, "How much lithium in a battery am I allowed to bring on board?" We differentiate between two battery types: Lithium metal and lithium-ion. 
Most lithium metal batteries are non-rechargeable and are used in film cameras. Lithium-ion packs are rechargeable and power laptops, cellular phones and camcorders. Both battery types, including spare packs, are allowed as carry-on but cannot exceed the following lithium content: 
- 2 grams for lithium metal or lithium alloy batteries 
- 8 grams for lithium-ion batteries 

Lithium-ion batteries exceeding 8 grams but no more than 25 grams may be carried in carry-on baggage if individually protected to prevent short circuits and are limited to two spare batteries per person. 

How do I know the lithium content of a lithium-ion battery? From a theoretical perspective, there is no metallic lithium in a typical lithium-ion battery. There is, however, equivalent lithium content that must be considered. For a lithium-ion cell, this is calculated at 0.3 times the rated capacity (in ampere-hours). 

Example: A 2Ah 18650 Li-ion cell has 0.6 grams of lithium content. On a typical 60 Wh laptop battery with 8 cells (4 in series and 2 in parallel), this adds up to 4.8g. To stay under the 8-gram UN limit, the largest battery you can bring is 96 Wh. This pack could include 2.2Ah cells in a 12 cells arrangement (4s3p). If the 2.4Ah cell were used instead, the pack would need to be limited to 9 cells (3s3p).

Restrictions on shipment of lithium-ion batteries

  • Anyone shipping lithium-ion batteries in bulk is responsible to meet transportation regulations. This applies to domestic and international shipments by land, sea and air. 
     
  • Lithium-ion cells whose equivalent lithium content exceeds 1.5 grams or 8 grams per battery pack must be shipped as "Class 9 miscellaneous hazardous material." Cell capacity and the number of cells in a pack determine the lithium content. 
     
  • Exception is given to packs that contain less than 8 grams of lithium content. If, however, a shipment contains more than 24 lithium cells or 12 lithium-ion battery packs, special markings and shipping documents will be required. Each package must be marked that it contains lithium batteries.
     
  • All lithium-ion batteries must be tested in accordance with specifications detailed in UN 3090 regardless of lithium content (UN manual of Tests and Criteria, Part III, subsection 38.3). This precaution safeguards against the shipment of flawed batteries. 
     
  • Cells & batteries must be separated to prevent short-circuiting and packaged in strong boxes.
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Comments

On October 20, 2010 at 5:02pm
Stefano Monti wrote:

Reading this: «Lithium-ion is a low maintenance battery, an advantage that most other chemistries cannot claim. There is no memory and no scheduled cycling is required to prolong the battery’s life.» such as what we hear from PC sellers about their products long-life maintenance. Cycles of complete discharging and recharging are only for hardware and software calibration, not intended for battery life.
Thanks for the explanation.

On November 21, 2010 at 9:11am
rajusalot wrote:

li ion battery in 12 v/400 ah

On November 29, 2010 at 1:20pm
MICHAEL RIGGS wrote:

The search for a battery to power our electric cars should include an all liquid battery.  Instead of having to charge the battery at home or at a charging station, I think a better idea would be to have a storage system where the liquid battery would be stored in the car untill the charge is spent and then like going to the gas station you would pump out the spent liiquid battery and put in a charged liquid battery.  Instead of having to wait until the battery is charged(like the present situation) you would just wait until the battery(liquid) is exhanged.  Another option would be to exchange a spent physical battery for unspent one. What do you think?

On December 8, 2010 at 2:59am
Carlos wrote:

My comment is. If there is a big market for this product.
Very much interested if finding out the potential to commercialize this particular Battery
of lithium in global proportion

On December 18, 2010 at 5:50am
m.shen wrote:

What is the mechanism that causes some types of Lithium batteries to violently
explode ?
What are the statistics of thses Lithium batterie exploding ?
would 1 per thousand be correct ?

m.shen

On December 19, 2010 at 4:42pm
Stefano Monti wrote:

LiON battery would explode if the reaction create some hidrogen and in the expansion two contact give a short circuit. If the battery was made by low quality processes the percentage can be higher, but in normal circumstances, precaution like described in this article, the percentage is better: one on millions of units.

On December 20, 2010 at 8:55am
V. wrote:

I just got a lithium ion battery powered Dyson vacumn. From what I understand you are saying, it’s best to prolong its life by 1) not fully charging it each time - only charging it to about 80% of full capacity   and 2) storing it at 40% charge in a cool place when not in use.  Is there any other practical advice?
thank you for your articles.
v.

On December 20, 2010 at 3:24pm
Rainer wrote:

Why do Lithium_ion_batteries have three electrical contacts, i.e.  + (plus), -(minus) and an unmarked one? Is the latter conected to the charging (safety) circuit?

On December 21, 2010 at 2:07am
id wrote:

It is not clear to me the sentence “The maximum charge and discharge current on most packs are is limited to between 1C and 2C”. “1C and 2C” should be “1A and 2A” (amps), since it refers to a current?

On December 24, 2010 at 12:43am
Imp wrote:

The C rating of a battery is its discharge rate (or it can also represent a charge rate).  It is defined as the amount of current it can safely discharge over a period of time expressed in multiples of the batteries total rated capacity.  A battery’s C rating is equivalent to it’s mah rating sustained for one hour. For example a 3000 mah battery being discharged at 1C, or 3000ma, will last one hour at that discharge rate, this equals 1C… At 0.5C (1500ma)  it will last for 2 hours.  That same battery being discharged at 2C (6000ma) would last 30 minutes, etc.  The same principle applies to charge rates as well.  Different technologies can handle different rates.

On December 28, 2010 at 5:10pm
Andrew wrote:

I would like to know if more research is done into other tehnologies (non-lithium) because this element (Lithium) is in low quantities on Earth thus beeing unwise to over-develop something based on a rare material (just a very few countries have lithium reserves). When I think what will be to replace all present petrol/diesel cars just from one developed country with lithium based energy storage will requiure more than we can find on entire planet.
An ideal battery… questionable, for the moment in small apliances yes, in next 30-40 years of course not.

On December 29, 2010 at 6:37am
Midge wrote:

I am concerned about the weather.  Will freezing affect the Lithium-Ion battery on my Travel Scooter (wheelchair). I know I have to protect it from the heat.  I have a spare battery, but both batteries have been left in the rental car exposed to the cold.

On December 29, 2010 at 5:15pm
JP wrote:

Andrew,
Lithium is not rare, many countries have large reserves.
Midge,
Freezing should not hurt the battery but it may reduce it’s capacity when cold.  They should be warmed up some before charging to take more charge.

On December 30, 2010 at 8:44pm
Midge wrote:

Thanks JP,  I’ll be sure to bring my batts to room temp b4 charging & won’t put them in the car until just b4 I leave, so they won’t be too cold to provide optimum capacity. 

BTW, I have a spare because they quit without warning, unlike gel cells which give a fair reading of remaining charge.  Is there an affordable & convenient device available that I can use to read the Li-Ion?

On December 31, 2010 at 11:15am
Ross wrote:

Can a Li-ion battery be used in a cordless drill which calls for a NiCd? Are they interchangeable?

On January 4, 2011 at 9:17pm
BWMichael wrote:

Ross: thats a big NO! The drill may work with a Li-ion battery if it fits, chances are it wont. But you cannot use a NiCd charger with a Li-ion battery. Lithium batteries are very sensitive and need specific chargers to control the amount of current etc.

If your drill is NiCd i suggest you stick to NiCd or NiMh batteries. And if you really want a Li-ion battery for whateva reason, go buy a Li-ion drill.

On January 6, 2011 at 12:20pm
Peter wrote:

I am having problems with a 12 volt Li-ion drill & saw.  Especially in colder weather the batteries just shut down - the battery overload protection just cuts in.  I get this problem with the smaller 1,5 Ah batteries but not with the 3ah ones.  Could the batteries of been damaged by being kept cold - they live in my van so could be -5 at night ?.  Or could the batteries have developed a fault.

Many tool shops are warning against Li-ion & are reporting lots of problems.

On January 12, 2011 at 2:12pm
Ross wrote:

Thank you for your reply BWMichael. But after further research, the answer is at least partially ‘yes.’  Perhaps my question should have been better stated as to ‘physically’ interchangeable. I understand that they require different chargers - and that is very important! I spoke with a DeWalt representative, who told me that the Li-ion and NiCd batteries were physically interchangeable on their cordless tools. And in fact, Porter-Cable makes a line of ‘bare tools’, which are sold without a battery - allowing the user to choose either NiCd or Li-ion. Thanks again for your input!

On January 15, 2011 at 4:54pm
Andy wrote:

I would like to remove NiCd bateries out of my 18v pack and replace with Li-ion,
and use the same charger that came with the NiCd. Is this possible We have problems with the NiCd bateries constantly. I have rebuilt NiCd packs before with NiCd batteries.

On January 15, 2011 at 5:19pm
Ross wrote:

Hi Andy - NO you CANNOT charge a Li-ion battery in a NiCd charger. Each type requires a very specific charger, and it would be dangerous to attempt to do so.

On February 4, 2011 at 2:07pm
Cesar wrote:

Using batteries for SMALL Data Centers – what is next ?

Question:  Do you know if APC - American Power Conversion, Eaton Products or the like have or are planning to have Lithium battery based UPS units - Uninterruptable Power Supplies.  APC has the Symmetra system this unit uses “Lead acid” based batteries.  This unit keeps Data Centers running during power outages in our client sites.  Will Lithium be more effective than APC’s current batteries - perhaps price would be too high for the market?  Any ideas?
As the Global Warming effects start to appear in our state… keeping small Data Centers up and running for 24-hours and in some cases 48-hours electrical outages is critical - wee need better technology!
Yes I know about standby electrical fuel/ gas generators… but for some reason (political) this is not a solution.
Thanks,
Cesar Lopez
Best Networks Inc – a Computer Networking Consulting Company in Chicago

On February 8, 2011 at 12:52am
Shibi wrote:

I have serious doubt that lithium ion batteries in Dell laptops is good or not..Is dell laps battery hav short lifetime?
...please suggest me some comments as soon as possible…..

On February 10, 2011 at 7:31am
steve wrote:

I have a Makita cordless driver/drill that I use daily in my trade and, living in Iowa, it can be less than 10 degrees F on a regular basis in winter.  What is the effect of freezing on the total number of charge/discharge cycles I can expect in the life of my tool?

On February 10, 2011 at 11:09am
Don Grunke wrote:

I am interested in a nominal 24 volt 44 Ah LiFePO4 battery.  What weight cost, electronics? ? ?

On February 16, 2011 at 6:12pm
tony wrote:

the life of battery ran in low or high temperature depend on the active material and discharging rate.

On March 12, 2011 at 9:28pm
Perry wrote:

I need to replace two 12V 4.5Ah NiCd batteries from a 1993 camera.  Camera eats 25w and NiCd were rated to last for 1.25hrs.  I bought a 12V 4800mAh Li Ion.  It does not output enough power to run the camera longer than 30 or 40 seconds.  It still showes 12.3VDC but does not power the cam.  What did I not understand?

On March 21, 2011 at 12:18am
tony wrote:

we can see that the N-Cd battery is discharging at 0.66C as 3.6A（4.5/1.25) current, the rated power of camera is 25w, rated voltage of camera is 12V, only need 2.0A current is enough.that is the confused point i think.
your information is not enough, what kind of battery it is ,what is the model ,what is the amount ,seriese or parallel.
please give us more information.
I think the battery of different kinds can not be crossed used. the rate of discharging curve is different, the inner resistance is different either.
i

On April 14, 2011 at 2:15am
Amada Zhang wrote:

•Li-ion cells are very sensitive to charging characteristics and may explode if mis-handled.
•Strongly suggest that you use the matched Li-Ion battery charger to recharge the battery pack
•Charging temperature: 0 to 45 degrees Celsius
•Discharging temperature: -20 to 60 degrees Celsius
•Storage temperature: -20 to 45  

On May 9, 2011 at 4:40pm
Tami Troise wrote:

I just purchased a Casio Exilim underwater camera for my vacation. I use it for about an hour and then the camera stopped working. I thought the battery had to be charged but then it still did not work. When I checked it again the lithium battery looked like something leaked out of it and my camera will not work.  Can it be that this happens to these types of batteries or can there be something wrong with the camera itself??? Someone please help!!! Thank you!

On May 15, 2011 at 10:42am
Br wrote:

I suspect that you have a moisture problem !

On May 21, 2011 at 1:36am
ales wrote:

Hi, i’ve purchase a not original sony li-ion battery for my camera.
After one minute of use I read this message:“Non-standard battery is used. Use the info LITHIUM battery.” and the camera swich off.
The battery is the same in all aspect from the original.
Why does it possible?
Can I do something to remove the message and use it?
R Ales

On May 22, 2011 at 5:03pm
BWMichael wrote:

Ales: Unfortunately you cannot remove the message and use this battery.

A few companies including Sony and JVC have made their genuine batteries with micro chips inside and the camera is designed to function properly only when the chip is present in the battery.

This is so aftermarket batteries cannot be purchased and you are forced to buy genuine batteries from them which they can charge as much money as they like.

On June 1, 2011 at 7:21am
tony wrote:

Ales: Unfortunately you cannot remove the message and use this battery.

A few companies including Sony and JVC have made their genuine batteries with micro chips inside and the camera is designed to function properly only when the chip is present in the battery.

This is so aftermarket batteries cannot be purchased and you are forced to buy genuine batteries from them which they can charge as much money as they like

I have to say that the brother up floor is right!

On June 1, 2011 at 7:22am
tony wrote:

the protector inner the battery is written in original information.

On June 15, 2011 at 12:44pm
Emerogork wrote:

I have a Panasonic ag-bp15p Li Ion camcorder batter that sat in the camera bag for over 8 years.  I charged it and it gave me about 18 minutes to video time.  I recharged it and it gave me about 3 seconds and about 10 seconds later the camcorder shut down,

Is there nay way to chock the battery back to life as I used to do with NiCads.  I am aware of the high voltage and heat protection it has.

I just purchased one on lone.  I wonder if I should have been concerned about shelf life.

Thoughts appreciated.

On August 27, 2011 at 4:08am
Ian wrote:

I really don’t think that 18650 cells are 650 mm long.

On September 2, 2011 at 1:21pm
Jason T. wrote:

Is there a lithium ion batter that could put out enough wattage (1200 MIn.) to power a hair driyer that wouldn’t weigh the same as a small car?

On September 2, 2011 at 2:27pm
Emerogork wrote:

Other than needing to dry hair out in the woods, what is you r application? You might find a heavy duty inverter and sock the wits out of your car engine as it tried to keep up the voltage. I doubt you are going to find any portable cell block to do it.

On September 3, 2011 at 9:27am
Jason T. wrote:

I should have specified that I want to design a hand-held appliance with a light, durable, long-lasting battery. (And not what you may be thinking. That’s been done.)

On October 16, 2011 at 4:36am
MUHAMMAD MUMTAZ wrote:

I am Marine Engineer (Chief Engineer of ocean going vessels)
Please apprise me about the New inventions in Marine batteries.Also how ithe LI-ION BATTERIES can give a better service than the conventional lead acid or the Ni-Cadmium
batteries.

On October 27, 2011 at 3:05pm
Bud Dolan wrote:

Looking to replace 4 “AA” batteries with rechargeable ones for use in a lightweight led array. Nicad rechargeable"AA” only put out 1.2v so I would like a “green” alternative - any suggestions?