By JD DiGiacomandrea, Green Cubes Technology Learn why Lithium-ion-phosphate batteries need the right battery-management system to maximize their useful life. It’s all about chemistry. Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries provide high energy density, low weight, and long run times. Today, they’re in portable designs. Their popularity has spawned a few sub-chemistries that all use the principle of…

Solid-state lithium microbattery technology is poised to leapfrog Li-ion and Li-poly alternatives for hearable and wearable devices. By Arvind Kamath, Ensurge Micropower The more popular digital health and fitness wearables and hearables become, the more frustrating the shortcomings of their rechargeable microbatteries. Decades-old Lithium-Ion (Li-ion) technology has reached its limits while handcuffing product developers to…

By Ashok Lahiri, Enovix Corporation The first lithium-ion (Li-ion) bat­tery, developed and commercialized by Sony Corporation in 1991, provided a step-change increase in energy density for its handheld camcorder — a harbinger of the many power-hungry portable electronic devices to come. Without this battery innovation, the brick-size cell phone of the 1980s would never have…

Consumer (sometimes referred to as commercial) lithium (Li) batteries offer better performance compared with lower-cost alkaline, nickel-cadmium (NiCd), or nickel metal hydride (NiMH) alternatives, but industrial Li batteries are even higher in performance. This FAQ looks at examples of chemistries for primary and secondary Li batteries in consumer and industrial devices including the use of…

In many cases, the difference is related to regulatory demands versus environmental demands. Both segments require high levels of safety and performance from Li batteries. Medical applications have numerous strict regulatory and certification requirements while industrial systems tend to have more challenging environmental performance needs. This FAQ looks at the extensive standards defined for medical…

Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries get a lot of headlines, but primary Li battery chemistries are the workhorses in a large number of industrial, medical, consumer, and other applications. This article looks at the performance tradeoffs and typical applications for the six most common Li primary chemistries including LiCFX (lithium poly carbon monofluoride) LiMN02 (lithium manganese dioxide),…

A lot has been written regarding rechargeable lithium (LI) batteries and sustainability. Primary (non-rechargeable) Li batteries can also make major contributions to improving the sustainability of the systems where they are used. This FAQ reviews some of the factors related to the sustainability of primary Li batteries including key performance indicators (KPIs), downcycling versus recycling,…

Energy harvesting (EH) can be an attractive way to power wireless internet of things (IoT) and other small devices. EH can be combined with rechargeable batteries, capacitors, or supercapacitors to provide enhanced performance. Depending on the circumstances, primary batteries can provide a more reliable and even lower-cost option. This FAQ looks at ways to classify…

Self-discharge refers to the declining state of charge of a battery while the battery is not being used. In most instances, self-discharge cannot be eliminated but needs to be managed. Too high a self-discharge rate can limit the potential applications for a battery. Depending on the battery chemistry and construction, there can be several causes…

Power-generation and heating units using radioactive decay as their primary energy source have been successfully used in space and on Earth for over 60 years. Q: How much power does a single Pu-238 RTG core generate? A: The newest thermoelectric converters using PbTe/TAGS-based thermocouples can produce between 100 and 125 Watts of electrical energy from […]