Dendrites are projections of metal that can build up on the surface of lithium anodes and penetrate into the battery electrolyte, eventually crossing from one electrode to the other and shorting out the battery cell. What gives rise to these metal filaments has been somewhat of a mystery, and there has been little progress on…

Thermal runaway happens when a lithium-ion cell, or a small region within a cell, reaches a critical temperature where the materials start to undergo decomposition reactions. These reactions then generate significant additional heat. The decomposition reactions are temperature dependent, increasing exponentially as the temperature increases. Once decomposition starts, a chain reaction causes the battery to…

A new approach to extracting residual energy from waste batteries could serve as a starting point for waste reduction research   Batteries find use everywhere. But once discharged, they are discarded. For many years, discarded batteries have been salvaged for valuable metals. However, the residual energy in them have seldom been recovered. In a new…

By JD DiGiacomandrea, Green Cubes Technology As the number of cell sites increase and their sizes decrease, engineers have options to consider for battery backup. Differing battery chemistries offer more choices and different performance levels. Selecting the right battery chemistry for each application is critical to ensure reliable, long lasting, and cost-effective power delivery. The…

A battery is not an ideal finite power supply. The energy stored in a fully charged battery cannot be supplied to the digital circuitry to its full extent because the amount of energy a battery can provide depends on the current drawn from the battery itself. In other words, the higher the discharge current, the…

There are many alternatives to Li-ion batteries, including fuel cells, various types of supercapacitors, redox flow batteries, novel Li-based chemistries such as lithium-sulfur (LiS), and more. This FAQ focuses on alternative non-lithium rechargeable battery chemistries, including calcium-ion (Ca-ion), magnesium-ion (Mg-ion), sodium-ion (Na-ion), zinc-ion (Zn-ion), iron-air (Fe-air), and sodium-sulfur (NaS) that can be more readily integrated…

Designers have choices and tradeoffs when choosing the ideal Li-ion battery chemistry. Batteries affect the cost, lifetime, and usefulness of an application. An optimal energy storage system is critical to ensure the life and performance of an application, so it’s essential to start with the best battery chemistry for the job.  This FAQ reviews six…

The speed at which a battery can be recharged is measured using the ‘C-rate,’ where ‘C’ is the battery’s capacity in mA or A. At a 1 C rate, a battery can be completely recharged in one hour. The speed of charge primarily depends on the voltage. For example: For small batteries used in portable…

Expansion of grid-scale energy storage is important to enable the transition to variable renewable energy (VRE) sources such as wind and solar, and a green energy economy. The use of battery energy storage systems (BESS) is a key to enabling the growing penetration of VREs. BESS installations are classified as behind-the-meter (BTM) or front of…

A little known chemical reaction helps extend battery life. Sol Jacobs, Tadiran Batteries As remote wireless devices become increasingly essential to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), there is a growing need to understand the principles behind extended battery life. Many IIoT nodes require a battery-driven energy source. These off-grid low-power applications fall into two […]