The Different Types And Uses Of Battery Materials
There is a wide variety of batteries made from materials ranging from primary cells or more commonly known as non-rechargeable batteries such as Alkaline and atomic battery, secondary cells rechargeable batteries such as aluminium ion and magnesium ion to batteries by application such as automotive, etc. Batteries can be of electrical which consists one or more than one electrochemical cells and mechanical batteries that stores energy by any form of mechanical means.
Popular battery materials
Rechargeable Lithium ion batteries– The manufacturers of smart phones and portable technological devices prefer to use lithium ion materials.One of the main reasons that rechargeable portable devices have become so popular is because there is a simple solution when they run out of power. Smart phones, wireless earphones, headsets, tablets, etc, all have lithium ion battery materials.
Aluminium ion batteries- Lithium ion batteries are often compared to aluminium ion batteries with the former holding a significant amount of advantages in comparison to the latter. These types of batteries’ shelf life are relatively shorter. However, aluminium has a lower cost because it is found in more abundance compared to lithium.
Magnesium Batteries- Researchers say that magnesium batteries have the capacity to hold more power and not explode. A team of scientists are working on magnesium batteries that they think will hold more power than lithium batteries but they were unsuccessful because they couldn’t find a workable and effective liquid electrotype due to it being a new technology. These are however, non-rechargeable batteries.
Nickel Cadmium Batteries- Nickel Cadmium batteries are rechargeableare very cheap and commercially available. However, they are at disadvantage because of the low energy density in comparison to lithium ion batteries. Applications that require a high discharge rates uses Nickel cadmium batteries because it can endure such type of charge without causing any kind of damage or capacity loss.
Organic radical batteries- The battery materials are extensively environment friendly in comparison with lithium-ion because it does not consist of any form of metal that causes problems when it comes to disposing it. They are non-flammable, non-toxic and do not require extra handling care. The disadvantage of ORBs is that there is a great amount of difficulty while developing it due to the trouble of synthesizing a suitable negative electrode.
The Future of Different types of Materials for Batteries
Over the past couple of years, there has been a significant development in the different types of battery materials that have been used. Scientists are always on a look out for materials for batteries that will offer even better properties along with several advantages.