You have bought a toy for your kid and it sings and dances, can you tell me how? Of course, due to the batteries. Then you bought wireless headphones for yourself and again, they work on the batteries. Some technologies that don’t work with wire, usually work due to batteries.
I’m sure you hear all the time that somebody says: I need a lithium battery pack for car, or ultra-smart lithium battery packs are the best, or this electric car battery technology is better than that one. And you wonder what is a lithium-ion battery and what uses it has.
So, let’s go through it together and find out all the secrets of lithium-ion batteries.
What is a lithium-ion battery?
A Lithium-ion (in short, let’s call him a “li-ion”) is a rechargeable battery. Li-ions move between negative and positive electrodes also called “anode” and “cathode”.
Lithium-ion can store high-capacity power, that’s why they have a wide range of use.
They are very convenient as they are electricity in a portable form, you can carry them everywhere.
Uses of lithium-ion batteries
The lithium-ion battery is commonly used in the electronics industry. As you already know they provide portable electricity for powering technologies such as mobiles, tablets, laptops, etc. But most of us don’t know that lithium-ion batteries are also used in medicine. They supply energy for medical equipment as well.
Lithium-ion batteries are also used in manufacturing, mining, etc.
So, we are aware of some super inventions of our century, and when people ask what are the most exciting ones we say smartphones, laptops, and so on, but we don’t know that the most exciting ones really are lithium-ion batteries, as without them we wouldn’t have any of the above-mentioned inventions.
It’s a surprise but most all-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids use lithium-ion batteries. You may ask why are they used in cars. Lithium-ion batteries have high-energy efficiency, and high-temperature performance, and also, they discharge is low.
Other battery technologies
We are talking about lithium-ion batteries all the time, but we have to mention that there is another battery technology out there and not just one.
Here are the three battery technologies that may be using in the future.
The first one you already know is a Lithium-ion battery.
The second one is a lithium-sulfur battery. If compared with Lithium-ion batteries lithium-sulfur batteries have no host structures. As an advantage lithium-sulfur batteries use very light active materials.
The third one is solid-state batteries. This battery has a history of 10 years, so it is definitely not a new thing.
In solid-state batteries, the liquid electrolyte is replacing by a solid compound that still allows lithium ions to migrate within it.
The advantage of solid-state batteries is the improvement in safety at cell and battery levels. The other great thing about solid-state batteries is that they are non-flammable.
Now you would like to know who produces the best lithium-ion batteries in Canada. There are some companies that produce the best lithium-ion batteries in Canada, but you have to find which one suggests the best qualities, and what factors make them the best.
The success of engineers who have managed to bring energy storage technologies to an acceptable level of cost has provoked explosive growth in proposals for wearable electronics.
With all the variety of models, features, prices, and brands, they have something in common – a burning passion for Battery.
The need for batteries was so acute that we willingly turned a blind eye to many of their shortcomings. Suffice it to recall the nickel-cadmium and nickel-metal hydride versions with the notorious “memory effect”.
Although in fairness it will noting that they still firmly hold their positions in the segment of devices that require high operating currents and stability in harsh operating conditions.
Handheld power tools such as drills and screwdrivers, flashlights, electric cars, onboard power supplies for ships and aircraft – all of this remains a vast and conservative habitat for nickel-cadmium batteries.
The only economically viable method of industrial production of lithium today is associating with the peculiarities of its deposits.
The extraction of lithium is a process that changes the landscape beyond recognition and, most importantly, poisons the scarce supplies of local freshwater with salt and chlorine (chlorine is using to neutralize toxic compounds of lithium and magnesium).
The basis of the process is brine, a supersaturated saline solution. To obtain it, mines up to 40 meters deep or trenches are punching into which freshwater is pumping. Then the brine, similar to slushy snow, rises to the surface.
There, in dozens of man-maing pools the size of a hockey rink, the brine is brought to a standard in the sun during the year, when the concentration of lithium increases to 5-6%.
Then it is pumping into cisterns and taken to a refinery. From it, battery manufacturers get a snow-white powder, similar to flour – refined, dried, and granular carbonate or lithium chloride at a price that breaks all records in terms of growth dynamics (more than 40% per year). For his sake, the poor the desert landscape is literally “burned out” to cosmic sterility.
Remember that maintaining the health of the planet and future generations is the responsibility of each of us.
Do not overlook the importance of safe battery disposal; play a personal role in the preservation of the environment and your own health.
Lithium-ion batteries perform best at 25°C and above. However, their energy storage efficiency decreases quickly as the temperature falls.
Joshua Lo has done extensive research at Waterloo University, by simulating electric vehicles, showing that at – 20°C, the vehicle would lose 24.6km (37%) of range under a UDDS cycle, 25.9km (36%) under an HWFET, and 23.5km (44%) under a US06 cycle (Figures 1 & Figure 2).
The two contributors to this loss of range are decreasing battery capacity, as well as decreasing charge and discharge efficiency at low temperatures.
Range reduction in range in cold weather would imply having to charge your vehicle more often than when using during warmer weather conditions. However, charging Lithium-Ion batteries at sub-zero temperatures could damage the batteries beyond repair.
LFP Chargers
Ensure the use of dedicated LFP chargers. Always check with the pack suppliers for their recommended chargers. Cell life will be extended by avoiding very deep discharges (over 90% DoD).
It is s recommended to store LFP battery packs indoors during the cold season. Ensure the battery packs are fully disconnected, so there will not be any further drainage while stored. Batteries should be stored in a dry and cool place, at 50% SOC (State of Charge).
Ensure the pack’s terminals are free from oxidization, as this could reduce conduction and start heating the terminals, potentially leading to BMS damage. Ensure you use the right and correctly- rated terminal connectors.
What do we call a battery?
A battery is a galvanic cell or accumulator that is using to power various devices autonomously (independently).
The battery is, in fact, a current source.
A circuit consisting of an anode and a cathode submerging in an electrolyte is housed inside the seal shell.
When immersed, between the anode and the cathode (poles), as a result of chemical reactions between heavy metals (mercury, magnesium, manganese, cadmium, nickel, lead) and alkalis, a potential difference arises – voltage.
According to some research, the damage caused by the creation of lithium batteries for one electric car is similar to what a conventional automobile with an internal combustion engine emits into the atmosphere over a period of several years.
This is attributing, in part, to the number of batteries are utilizing in the vehicle.
Remember that maintaining the health of the planet and future generations is the responsibility of each of us.
Do not overlook the importance of safe battery disposal; play a personal role in the preservation of the environment and your own health.