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Quartz to the rescue
Quartz Powder has been found to be a great additive for the electrolyte of lithium-sulfur batteries.
A problem with the Li-S chemistry is the loss of capacity when a battery made from these materials cycles. This is caused by polysulfides, which don't work in a battery, start taking up space on an electrode instead of working materials.
To solve this problem, researchers added quartz to the electrolyte because it binds with the polysulfides which keep them off the electrode.
This effect was found by happenstance when trying to study what is happing in this kind of cell. When they tried to x-ray the offending material, the polysulfides, they had to ground them so the x-rays could "see" them because the x-rays didn't work in a liquid. They used glass for this but found the improvement in overall performance was significant enough to push this idea as far as they could - thus quartz powder which is a large component of glass and has a great surface area.
If it can be made to work, the theoretical capacity of a Li-S battery is greater than that of the Li-Ion chemistry.
Atoms with problems work better
Frustrated atoms describe mixing up matrices of differing solids in order to create surface area and paths for electron transfer inside the combined result.
The idea is to take two different materials with atoms of different sizes and combine them so the internal structure doesn't fit together in such an orderly way. Because a material that has ordered atoms doesn't allow for electrons to reach the interior easily.
The obvious consequences are greater access to many parts of a material that would normally be blocked off by other parts of the material. And these paths to all parts of a material help with electron transport so not only is there more material access, but a cell with this construction would have a greater ability to charge/discharge faster.
Carbon nanotubes are a really great solution looking for problems to fix. And in battery labs, carbon nanotubes are being scrutinized closely because they continue to amaze researchers with how well they expose carbon to be used in just exactly the ways needed for good battery performance.
The latest from James Tour et al use the properties of carbon nanotubes coated with lithium with such a high surface area and low density that the anode can reach near the theoretical maximum of energy density!
The cathode will have to be brought up to speed to handing this high-performing anode, but take a look at the next story...
 Plating for layers
Thin layers, like a coating of lithium just mentioned, is a big part of getting great performance out of batteries. But making thin and strong layers isn't always easy.
There is a way to make a thin layer that isn't very hard depending on the materials, and that is electroplating.
Electroplating is a way to get a coating on a substrate by drawing a material onto the substrate with an electrical charge. It doesn't work with every material so that is the trick to making it work for cells of the future.
This plating is being used on the anode side of a lithium battery and it potentially increases capacity and durability.
This blog, despite the hiatus over the last few weeks, is still keen to bring you the news and views of the battery world. Curiously, it is served outside the US as much as inside the US. And Russian is the most translated version delivered to the non-English speaking world.
Why to people in Russia want to read about the fascinating goings on about batteries? Could it be because of the great engineering minds that dwell in those parts? Could it be that batteries are seen as a solution for more problems by more people there?
I'm not sure. Perhaps some of you in Russia could comment. Go ahead and respond in Cyrillic and I'll just push the handy "translate this" button I have here in Chrome, and I hope the online translator will make sense when I reply.
I know just a little about Russia having traveled there 3 times. 1 time for business, 2 times for pleasure. And there are some truly wonderful people one cannot help but meet if you spend some time anywhere in the country. And I noticed that even though I didn't run into a lot of engineers, everyone had an analytical mind.
Take for instance the babushka (babule?) I stayed with on one trip. She was a medical doctor by learning and had a long career. She was retired in her 70's and receiving a pension. The pension she received was the full amount of rubles that were promised to her.
Unfortunately with inflation that entire payment was only a few dollars per month. She wasn't a bitter person, but she supplemented her income by renting her storage room (big closet?) to people like me. And she did doctoring over the threshold.
Doctoring over the threshold was a little trick she understood because if someone came inside her apartment for medical advice, she could be breaking state laws. However, if they stayed out of the house while she talked about their case, then she had some protection if someone told the authorities that she was helping people outside the system.
I hope she is still doing what she loves - helping people and using her very sharp mind.
And that's what I experience in the little time I was there. People always thinking. It's what we will make solar and wind work because there is no getting around the problem of energy storage. There have already been a number of breakthroughs come out of Russia.
And let's not forget that Russia sits on vast unexplored areas that could hold a great deal of raw materials for the unique use in batteries. Not only are they ramping up production in known deposits, but other rare earths will be needed and many areas have yet to be checked.
So jump on in. The water's fine. Join us in the US to tackle the energy storage problem. It may not be the catalyst to produce world peace, but it will be a great good for everyone in the world.
Any energy storage is good storage
What makes that a good idea?
The grid needs to match the production of electricity to what is being used. Too much energy production when there is no demand starts to break things; And not enough energy when demand is great causes voltage sags that will cause brown-outs.
So the production of power needs to speed up and slow down to match demand. But the sun doesn’t care. The sun will shine brightly in the afternoon and have our solar panels delivering electricity as much as they can regardless what the grid wants.
Hydro plants have a similar problem. You might think they speed up and slow down a hydro plant to match demand, but that doesn't work. Instead, they just shift the electric production to pumping the water back into the reservoir to be used again later. It's simple and it works.
And the current solutions to solve this problem in grid solar is to either put the excess electricity into batteries or into making hydrogen gas.
Let's take a look at how the hydrogen gas solution, or better known as 'power-to-gas', works.
Does it really work? Wouldn’t that be less efficient?
Yes, it works. And it uses equipment that is already on the shelf so it is relatively inexpensive to design and install. And it can be created quickly for the same reason.
And despite the low efficiency of splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen, which is worse than battery storage, it’s not a bad trade-off. The lower percentage of energy returned from the energy spent to get hydrogen is mitigated by its simple low-cost implementation and a relatively longer system life.
The secret to its simplicity is that the gas mixes directly into the natural gas system. There are no storage tanks, no pressurizing, no transporting hydrogen by vehicle, or creating a new pipeline distribution system. The gas is added to the natural gas line that is already passing by.
It doesn't change how the natural gas burns. In fact, the hydrogen will be quite dissipated in the natural gas. But it will not go to waste.
Batteries are better
That may or may not be true. We haven't had a situation where solar was over-producing before and solutions haven't been tested over time.
We suspect that batteries give us more control and may be more useful for the grid, but the capital cost of a battery storage system is fairly high. And installation will take some time. So we might consider quickly creating power-to-gas systems now and wait until a better battery solution can be installed over time.
This article appeared at Zbattery.com some time ago. I see it needs some updating so I'll reprint it with edits here:
| What does Battery Chemistry matter to me? |
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There are many different chemistries for batteries, each having different facets including:
- capacity per volume (energy density, shown in the table below as Wh/l)
- capacity per weight (specific energy, shown in the table below as Wh/kg)
- capability to deliver current
- capability to accept charge current
- price
- the number of cycles.
There are other differences, too, like what temperature range a chemistry will work well within and how quickly a cell will discharge in storage. But the main differences are listed above so that is all we will consider at this time.
The obvious question is - Why don't we just use the best chemistry?
It's because the differing chemistries have tradeoffs in the main factors listed. There is no best one, just the best one for a particular application.
Non-rechargeable Batteries
Generally, non-rechargeable batteries have greater capacities than their rechargeable counterparts. They also generally stay charged in storage better.
For example; An alkaline AA battery will have a rated capacity of about the same as a single charge of a NiMH AA battery, but the alkaline battery has a higher voltage, meaning overall it delivers more energy.
In a typical lower-current application like a small radio, the alkaline batteries should last you about 30% longer than a NiMH AA in the same place. And if the radio isn't used much, the better storage life of the alkaline cells make them easier to work with, not to mention pennies compared to dollars in initial costs.
Non-rechargeable lithium has some amazing specific energy and energy density. That's why when capacity is the most important factor, non-rechargeable lithium is king when recharging is not a practical option.
Why is recharging a battery not always a practical option?
Rechargeable batteries would be great to use all the time because the electricity for a recharge is very little money compared to buying a whole new battery. But there are other costs - The cost of replacing the battery more often, and up-front costs that are much higher than non-rechargeable counterparts. And there is more management involved with switching out discharged batteries with charged replacements.
So why don't we use the best of each type; rechargeable and non-rechargeable?
Because trade-offs are made with every type of battery chemistry. Which, unfortunately, means we have to pay attention to the different properties of each type. Still, the first difference we note is between non-rechargeable and rechargeable.
As far as non-rechargeables go
Alkaline is inexpensive, although it doesn't store as well or deliver current as well as some other chemistries. Lithium is expensive and doesn't deliver current as well as some other chemistries (although lithium's higher voltage makes up for this somewhat). Then there is 1.5V lithium, which is a monopoly product by Energizer that is a special case in its own right.
There are a few more non-rechargeable chemistries that have niche markets and I'll probably go over them in a future post.
Still, when a company designs a product, they generally have to decide on either alkaline or lithium because alkaline is about 1/2 the voltage of lithium. To make it for both, such different voltages would drive up the cost.
As far as rechargeables go
This could be a topic unto itself. Because the nature of recharging is so attractive designers would like to use it if they can. And a lot of chemical engineers have thought of a lot of different cell types to address problems by designers. But they haven't found a chemistry that will address all problems. Thus, designers use rechargeable chemistries based on cell factors are most important to their design.
Some specs on the main chemistries
Here is a list of chemistries and their capacity per weight and volume. There are many sub-chemistries and varying constructions used to make the above cells, so these numbers are a general rule-of-thumb comparison:
(Watt-hours per kg / Watt-hours per liter)
Lead acid 40/100
Alkaline 110/320
Non-rechargeable lithium 700/1100
Silver oxide 130/500
NiMH 90/250
Lithium-ion 150/330
LiFePO4 105/210
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This article was published after a number of people were coming in to replace bloated batteries. This situation didn't look safe and they wondered what happened.
What happened to my battery?!
 This battery has been catastrophically overcharged. We recommend unplugging the charger from the wall before unhooking the battery’s terminals. The battery may contain volatile gasses that could react badly to a spark near the battery’s vent. When a battery is charged it creates gasses that re-combine into solution; however, when the charge creates gasses faster than they can re-combine, that gas creates pressure inside the battery.
So what happened to the battery in the picture? Typically, a battery’s vents will expel any gas pressure that builds up faster than the gas can re-combine. The battery pictured above, however, collected gasses faster than the vents could remove them, allowing pressure to build up internally. Luckily for the customer, the additional safety features in the battery limited the damage to the battery only—sparing the charger and the charging environment. The malleable plastic design of this sealed lead acid battery allowed it to balloon without breaking, and an internal shorting design ceased the collection of more gasses. Furthermore, these batteries are designed with the electrolyte, an acid, to be absorbed in a glass mat, preventing the spilling of acid even in the instance of a broken casing. Our best guess is that a large 12V charger was used on this relatively small 6V battery.
How can you prevent overcharging your battery?
The most common overcharging error we see is matching a battery to a charger that is not designed for use with that battery’s capacity even if the voltage is the same. For instance, our 12 volt 3 Amp charger should not, in general, be used on 12 volt batteries that have a capacity below 10Ah. A capacity miss-match will result in a charge that may be harder on a battery than it should be, shortening the battery’s life. As batteries are used, their chemical properties degrade. They will hold less and less energy as time goes by, meaning their capacity decreases over time. If a battery degrades to a level below the range a charger was designed for, the charger may begin to overcharge that battery. In that case, the battery will wear out faster and faster each time it is charged. Of course, if a charger was designed for higher voltage batteries, hooking up a lower voltage battery will overcharge that battery.
Chargers are often engineered with built-in overcharge protection; they charge in stages, stopping or reducing the energy going into the battery when it is full. Yet there are some models that are not designed to stop charging after a battery is full which will shorten the life of the battery, sometimes severely. This will often cause customers to believe they have a defective battery rather than a defective charger and they end up overcharging battery after battery.
These instances will rarely result in the kind of swelling you see in the photo, but it will shorten the life of your battery or render the battery unusable.
So pay attention to the charger you use on a battery. Don’t use a car charger with small sealed lead acid batteries (or, in general, any batteries that use a glass mat to absorb the electrolyte). If you aren’t sure a charger is slowing down its charge after a battery is full, take the battery off the charger when it’s fully charged. A rule of thumb is to not leave a battery on a charger that you are sure will charge the battery in about 10 hours. And last, but not least, pay attention to the voltage the charger was designed for and the voltage of the battery you are charging.
A number of people have asked what is on the test bench at Zbattery.
The simple answer is 1 battery analyzer and 3 variable power supplies.
That is what is used the most. The variable power supplies charge the batteries, which can be monitored by the analyzer if needed. And the analyzer also records any discharge.
The analyzer can handle 48V, or 150W, or 40A. That's not too bad in most cases. Sometimes with very large or very small batteries, we have to either split the supply or amplify it. That makes a test less accurate, but it doesn't happen often and the result is usually close enough.
The analyzer is really the center of the test bench.
And we've found the best chargers are the variable power supplies for these reasons.
- They are accurate to a hundredth of a volt and charge almost any cell and pack.
- Variable smart chargers are limited to a range of batteries and packs and we'd need other smart chargers to do as wide a range as the power supplies do.
- We can "rig" up a charging protocol with power supplies if a pack/cell falls outside the immediate range of what they can do natively while smart chargers can only do their native range of cells/packs.
- And sometimes we want to know exactly what the charger is doing - voltage and amperage wise - which only the most expensive of variable chargers will let us do.
It's not to say we don't have smart chargers. We have them for some more common cells/packs. Also, we sometimes need to charge something faster than a variable power supply method will allow which a smart charger does.
Testing is something we love doing. One of the most popular articles is about testing AA alkaline batteries. Who doesn't want to know what the best AA alkaline battery is? Although that set of tests is getting rather old because the latest in alkaline battery technology is a little better than they show. I'll work to update that information and I'll republish the old article here as well.
If there is any question about battery testing, or if there is a specific test you haven't seen, just let me know.
Someone was nice enough to tell us what they learned from a part of the EZ Battery Reconditioning guide. Sure, the EZ Battery people got their money, but at least we can give the person that asked an honest opinion on what they bought.
One of the supplementary guides is titled "How To Revive A Dead Phone Battery", and I made sure to ask if the word Dead was in quotes. There is supposedly more information on how to recondition li-ion batteries beyond the supplement. But we'll start with the supplement.
The word Dead is not in quotes. They supposedly put it in quotes later in the document.
Wow... If I had the chutzpah to pull off publishing something like this for money I'd probably be richer in my bank account. Fortunately, I value my soul more than my bank account.
The method they propose is to "jump start" a good battery that has gone below what we call the "threshold voltage".
I'll explain what a threshold voltage is. Every cell phone has a charger in it that takes a 5V USB signal and modifies it to properly charge the li-ion battery. If the voltage of the battery goes below a certain level (the threshold voltage) the electronics in the phone will not recognize the battery and thus won't charge it. The solution COULD be to raise the voltage of the cell just a little so it reaches the threshold voltage and the phone can recognize the battery and charge it. This, again, only works if the battery is actually a good battery that happens to have a low voltage.
Please note, every smart charger has a threshold voltage regardless of chemistry the charger works with. The solution in cases like this, whether it be Lead Acid, NiCd, NiMH, or even Li-Ion is to charge the battery with what we call a "dumb" charger. A dumb charger is just a power supply that delivers a certain voltage whenever electrically possible and thus a threshold voltage is not applicable.
That power supply could be any DC power source in a certain voltage range above the threshold voltage. Even another battery of the same type that has enough charge in it to give a low battery a higher voltage would work.
So the guide says that to revive a DEAD PHONE BATTERY one should apply a straight 5VDC from a USB supply by cutting a USB cable, expose the bare leads, and touch them to the + and - of the battery in the right order.
Doing that CAN raise the voltage of a single cell li-ion battery enough for the charger to start working. Don't hold it on the battery too long, though, because the battery will be taking in the full Amperage that the USB supply will deliver. And it will take that Amperage for as long as the wires are touching the contacts - even after the battery is fully charged. And overcharging a li-ion battery is a bad idea. As far as I understand, the supplemental guide does not give a time limit, but I wouldn't want to hold those wires on there for more than a few seconds. If this trick is going to work, that's all the time it should need.
But is that the kind of dead phone battery that 99.999% of us run into? The kind of battery that is good but just happens to be below the threshold voltage of the phone? No. The dead phone batteries we encounter are ones that have been in use for a year or three and need to be charged at lunch just to make it through the day.
This EZ Battery Reconditioning trick won't work for a battery like that.
I realize the title of the guide and the supplement and all their advertising might lead you to believe that a normal dead battery that you get after using your phone for 3 years can be reconditioned. And perhaps there are other parts of the guide that go into that. But nothing about it has been told to me yet.
Perhaps people can ask me more questions about the methods in the guides and I'll keep giving my opinion on their effectiveness.
Do you have a EZ Battery Reconditioning guide? Have a question about it? Feel free to ask in the comments!
What they don't imply
One thing to note about EZ Battery Reconditioning. You won't find the claim to be "how to find good batteries that people throw away. I'm sure that wouldn't sell as well.
A claim like:
"Bringing Dead Batteries Back To Life Is Simple!"
is a great deal more enticing because getting good batteries that people throw away is a lot harder than getting dead batteries that people throw away.
But I'm going to guess, without having read the book, that a lot of the secret is to get batteries that people don't want anymore and check to see if they are really no good or if they can still be used.
What I think they might suggest
With a simple voltmeter, one can check a non-rechargeable battery. That's how the battery testers do it. If an alkaline battery is over 1.5V, it's probably good. If a non-rechargeable lithium battery is over 3.0V, it's probably good. If a silver oxide battery is over 1.55V, it probably has enough life left to be considered good.
But NONE of that is "bringing dead batteries back to life.
One might even check a battery to see if it is good "under load", which is a better test. But how much load should one put on a non-rechargeable battery for how long for it to be considered good? I could go into that because it isn't that complicated, but it's not dead simple. It will be a good topic for a future post.
But back to our EZ Battery Reconditioning people.
What they do imply
They imply that dead rechargeable batteries can be brought back to life. Non-rechargeable batteries can only be brought back to life under certain conditions, but we've found that even under the best conditions it still isn't worth it. What I mean is that alkaline batteries CAN be recharged, but they are much weaker after it is done, and they don't recharge enough times to go to the trouble.
Please note: they use the words "Long Life" and "Alkaline" on their website. Here's the screenshot:
And they use the word "Recondition" to top it all off. So if they mean there are chargers to recharge alkaline batteries, well, I suppose you might still be able to find one. But "long life" batteries are more commonly known as carbon zinc or zinc chloride. And these cannot be reconditioned. Again, though, there is a little wiggle room with the terminology seeing as someone could always say that "long life" just means any battery should have a good long life.
What I really think is inside the alleged "guide"
They probably tell you about a few tricks that are no secret in the battery industry. We've tried these before with RARE success. Here is the list:
- For lead acid batteries, add some Epsom salt to de-sulfate the plates
- For NiCd batteries, a cell can be "zapped" with 10x voltage to burn off any internal shorts
- For NiCd batteries again, if they have life but one wants to try and revive them to a better life; cycle them a few times with a deep discharge to about .2V per cell
Please note: When a lithium battery wears out, there is no getting it back. This is true for any lithium chemistry. It's also true for NiMH chemistry.
Tentative Conclusion
I doubt it.
They claim in their video that "any" battery can be reconditioned. They claim in thier screenshot that lithium batteries, which are what laptop batteries are, can be reconditioned. They claim NiMH batteries can be reconditioned in their list, as well.
I don't think it's possible.
I'm going to look into it further, but I don't think my conclusion will be proved wrong.
So I was looking at this battery reconditioning site. They sell an e-book that supposedly tells people how to restore their spent batteries to "100% of their working condition."
There might be a little wiggle room in there that "working condition" is not "new condition." However, they do claim that batteries using this guide will be in "new" condition in the video.
I began to look on the web to find people that had tried the guide and reviewed it. But there was no-one. I'm sure people will point to all the review sites listed for this process, but they are all sites that also get money if the guide sells from that site. They are all thinly veiled sales sites at best, and have nothing to do with reviewing the product.
So how are they doing it? How do they make such bold claims that would certainly be worth the $27-$47 it is selling for on various sites and yet no independent party has reviewed the claims?
I'll keep looking at this and write more about it as I find out more.
But just to give you an idea of the claims, take a look at these:
The EZ Battery Reconditioning™ course is the easy to follow, step-by-step system anyone can use to recondition all kinds of old or dead batteries with just simple supplies you probably already have in your home.
The course is made up of step-by-step guides that show you how to recondition each type of battery. And each guide is full of pictures and diagrams so you not only read exactly what to do …you see exactly what to do as well!
It’s like having me and Frank (aka "The Battery Man") standing there with you, guiding you every step of the way as you recondition your batteries.
And it doesn’t matter if you’re not technical or don’t know the first thing about batteries …because our course is incredibly easy to follow and absolutely anybody can use it.
I'm looking at links and videos, and perhaps I'll even give them some money just to make an honest review of my own.
Zbattery published this very nice information on VRLA batteries. Take time to comment on the guide and we'll update it with the latest information.
Valve Regulated Lead Acid (VRLA) Batteries are low maintenance sealed lead-acid batteries. They limit inflow and outflow of gas to the cell – thus the term “valve regulated”. VRLA batteries are unique due to the fact that they contain a “starved” electrolyte (acid), which is absorbed or immobilized in a separator.
Electrolytes are commonly absorbed or immobilized in two ways:
Absorbed electrolyte: a highly porous mat made from microglass fibers is partially filled with electrolyte, acting as a separator. Also called AGM for Absorbed Glass Mat.
Gelled electrolyte: Fumed silica is hardened into a gel that free-floats in its container. During charges, the gel dries more creating cracks and fissures develop between the positive and negative. Often referred to as Gel Cell.
Advantages:
· Maintenance-free
· Moderate Life
· High-rate capacity
· High charge efficiency
· No “memory effect”
· State of charge can be determined by measuring voltage
· Relatively low cost
· Available in a variety of sizes and voltages from single cell units (2V) to 48V or higher
Disadvantages
· Cannot be stored in discharged condition
· Relatively low-energy density
· Lower cycle than NiCad batteries
· Thermal runaway can occur with incorrect charging or improper thermal management
· More sensitive to temperatures than conventional lead-acid batteries
According to BatteryUniversity.com, “heat reduces the life of VRLA. Most batteries are enclosed in spaces without proper ventilation or cooling. Every 8°C (15°F) rise in temperature cuts the battery life in half. A VRLA battery, which would last for 10 years at 25°C (77°F), will only be good for 5 years if operated at 33°C (95°F). Once damaged by heat, no remedy exists to improve capacity.”
Simple Guidelines
· Always store in a charged condition. Never allow the open cell voltage to drop below 2.10V. Apply a topping charge every six months or when recommended.
· Avoid repeated deep discharges. Charge more often.
· Prevent sulfation and grid corrosion by choosing the correct charge and float voltages. If possible, allow a fully saturated charge of 14h.
· To reverse sulfation, raise the charge voltage above 2.4V per cell for a few hours.
· Avoid operating lead-acid at elevated ambient temperatures.
VRLA Uses:
· Fork Lifts
· Uninterruptible Power Supplies
· Emergency Lighting
· Wheelchairs
· Telecom Back-Up Power Supplies
· Lawn and Garden Tools
· Engine Starters
Many battery packs are made up of individual battery cells. When batteries are purchased to be made into a pack it is a good idea to equalize the charge on the batteries before building the pack.
Equalizing the batteries is nothing more than ensuring the voltage on each cell is within a very close range at the same state of charge (i.e. fully charged).
If you do not equalize the batteries properly before building a pack, the charge and discharge cycles will be harder on some of the cells and will effectively shorten their life. Once a cell fails the entire pack will be weaker because of the one defunct cell.
There are a couple of ways to equalize a set of batteries:
The first way is to connect the set that will go in the pack in a parallel configuration. Leave them in this state for at least 24 hours. The cells that have a higher charge will charge the ones with a lower charge and they will all equalize.
The second way is to put them in a parallel configuration again, but charge them together at 1.4V, current limited to total capacity divided by 40 (e.g. 3000mAh/40 => 75mA current limit). This may be faster than equalizing via the previously mentioned parallel method and you will start with a charged set of cells when you make the pack. Be sure to have an accurate voltmeter to check the charge voltage.
See some common Batteries used to make packs.
The articles on Zbattery.com included information about recycling. Except for the RBRC link which changed, it is up-to-date:
With so many batteries available, it is often difficult to know how they should be properly disposed; can you toss it in the normal household garbage, or should it be taken to a hazardous waste location?
Everyday batteries include:
Alkaline Batteries (flashlights, calculators, toys, smoke alarms, clocks, etc.) are classified as non-hazardous waste by the federal government. Most U.S. states, with the exception of California, can include with their normal household waste. California requires disposal of these batteries in accordance with the California Universal Waste Rules.
Button Batteries (watches, hearing aids, toys, greeting cards, remote controls, etc.) come in a variety of materials. They often contain mercury, silver, or lithium, and should be returned to the manufacturer when purchasing a new battery. Alkaline button batteries and zinc/air can be disposed of with normal household waste.
Li-Ion Batteries (laptops, camcorders, cell phones, etc.) are classified by the federal government as non-hazardous waste, however they can be recycled.
NiMH Batteries (power tools, camera, cell phones, computers, etc.) are rechargeable and can be recycled. NiMH are considered a non-hazardous waste in most U.S. States, with the exception of California. Check the California Universal Waste Rules.
NiCad Batteries (power tools, camera, cell phones, computers, etc.) are recyclable. NiCad is considered a hazardous waste by the U.S. government, and should be brought to a recycling facility.
Wet Cell Lead Acid Batteries, (automotives and tractors) also known as flooded batteries can be recycled at most retailers that sell lead-acid batteries.
AGM Lead Acid Batteries, (wheelchair, ATVs, home alarm, metal detectors, etc.) or Absorption Glass Mat Batteries can be reconditioned or recycled into new products. Collection services are available at most automotive stores, landfills, transfer stations, and service stations.
The Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC), a nonprofit public service, targets four kinds of rechargeable batteries for recycling: nickel-cadmium (NiCad), nickel metal hydride (NiMH), lithium ion (Li-Ion), and small-sealed lead. Visit their website http://www.call2recycle.org/ to find recycling locations near you.
The rule of thumb is that most rechargeable batteries are recyclable. Look for the RBRC logo or the standard recycling logo to know if your battery is recyclable. The US government states it is safe to dispose of alkaline and other non-rechargeable batteries with the household garbage. If you are concerned about the environmental effects, then it is time to switch to rechargeable batteries. Rechargeable batteries can be used over and over again, then recycled. You can learn more about battery disposal at the EPA website. Contact Zbattery.com at 1-800-624-8681 or sales@zbattery.com to learn what rechargeable battery options are ideal for your application.
Memory effect isn't as big an issue as it used to be, but we published an article on the topic at Zbattery.com and I'm republishing it here:
What's the scoop on the memory effect in rechargeable batteries? Is it true?
Is it worth buying rechargeable batteries?
Almost anyone who uses rechargeable batteries has heard of the memory effect problem. For those who have not heard of this problem, it is commonly believed that when rechargeable batteries are not fully discharged between charge cycles that they remember the shortened cycle and are thus reduced in capacity (length of use per charge). This problem was very common with rechargeable batteries several years ago. With improvements in batteries and charging technology this 'memory effect' is becoming a thing of the past.
Little known facts:
* 'Memory Effect' is the common term used to replace the more accurate term 'Voltage Depression.'
* Voltage Depression is more a problem with incorrect charging than a battery problem.
* Voltage Depression does not necessarily permanently damage a battery. It can most likely be corrected by fully charging and discharging the battery.
* Voltage Depression ('Memory Effect') is often incorrectly used to explain low battery capacity that should be attributed to other problems, such as inadequate charging, overcharge, or exposure to high temperatures.
* Voltage Depression can be affected by the discharge rate of a battery. Generally speaking, the depth of discharge will be less on discharges at the higher rates. This increases the capacity loss as less of the active material in the battery is cycled.
* Voltage Depression occurs primarily in NiCad batteries. NiMH batteries are almost never affected and Li-Ion batteries are minutely affected.
What else happens to NiCad cells where memory effect is blamed?
*Overcharging cells that are near the end of their overall life and their voltage is naturally low. No amount of charging will fix this and the battery needs to be replaced.
*Diminished capacity due to long storage or non-use. This can sometimes be remedied by a number of deep discharges. This has been shown to recover 70% or more of the cell's original capacity. If the cell has been sitting for too long and the energy has been depleted it may not be possible to recover any capacity.
So how can you maximize the use of your rechargeable batteries? Here are a few steps to take to get the most use out of your batteries:
1. Invest in a good charger. NiMH batteries should not be charged in a NiCad charger unless the charger is specifically made for both chemistries. There are cheap chargers and there are expensive chargers. Make sure the charger you get has good reviews and is well made. Chargers with micro-controller chips are usually the best choice.
2. When charging your batteries occasionally discharge them fully before recharging them. This is especially helpful to NiCad batteries. Be careful not to discharge too deeply. (Less than 1v per cell for NiCad and NiMH. E.g., a 3.6v pack to no less than 3v.) Discharging to absolute zero will make your battery useless in just a few cycles. It's best if you have a charger with a conditioner that will cycle the battery for you.
3. Be sure to store your batteries properly. Do not leave your batteries in a hot car, or in humid conditions. The best storage conditions are a cool, dry place. The refrigerator is fine if you stick in a packet of silica gel with your batteries in a sealed bag to keep them dry. It is a good idea to charge your NiCad or NiMH batteries fully before use if they have been in storage.
4. Most cordless phones use NiCad batteries. To maximize your cordless phone battery life, make sure to leave your phone off the base every once in a while until it is dead. Then leave it on the base until it is fully charged. You should leave your phone on the base for at least 24 hours to charge it fully.
There is no need to avoid rechargeable batteries. They can save you significant amounts of money over time. Don't be scared off by the 'memory effect'. It is easily manageable if it ever occurs.
I'm continuing posting articles from the ZBattery.com website. A lemon battery is great for understanding battery concepts.
The process shown here uses a lemon, copper in the form of a penny, and zinc in the form of a drywall anchor. Although neither of these metal items is pure they have enough copper and zinc on their surfaces to work, and they are readily available items anyone can find.
 Simply insert the penny and drywall anchor into the lemon as shown. These become your positive and negative terminals.
When hooked to a volt meter, as shown, the cell measures 0.4V. What is happening is a chemical reaction at the copper along with a chemical reaction with the zinc in the lemon acid. So there are 2 reactions working together and each one is called a “half-reaction”. Each set of metals in electrolyte (lemon juice in this example) is a single cell. As long as the lemon is in one piece and the metals are not touching, we have 1 battery cell.
 Although the lemon battery shows voltage the current is far too low to support even the simplest current demands. To find out how to increase the current to be able to power for example a light bulb, or what chemical reactions are happening inside the cell, keep reading. If however, all you want to do is make a lemon cell, you can stop reading.
Here are the reactions in a lemon cell:
With the zinc: Zn → Zn2+ + 2 e-
At the copper: 2H++ 2e- → H2
What we want a battery to do is have electrons to flow through a wire from which we can utilize to power things. In each of the reactions in the lemon cell, the e-minus indicates electrons that are removed from the zinc to make a zinc ion and these electrons go over to the copper where they take hydrogen ions and make dihydrogen. All chemical cells work in a similar way. Other metals and electrolytes can be used, but one-half of the half-reactions will create an ion and the other half will reduce an ion. In our lemon cell, these ions will be flowing through the electrolyte (the lemon's acid) while the electrons are flowing through the wire on our voltmeter. It happens spontaneously if the circuit is complete but the reaction stops almost completely when ions cannot be made because no electrons are flowing through the wire.
Thus, any chemical reaction creating an ion that can be coupled via ion transfer with another reaction that reduces an ion can create a battery cell. The potential difference in the ion creation/ion reduction determines the amount of power the cell will have. Dissimilar metals are ideal for this, and there are also some other non-metal materials that can do the same thing. That’s why there are a number of different kinds of battery cells. Each cell has different reactions which have different properties; so we can apply the right properties as required to get the job done.
You don’t see too many copper-zinc-lemon acid batteries in the world actually powering anything. So let’s look at our lemon cell again. What properties does it have that we would want to use it in our test? It’s got common materials that are easy to get and put together. That’s it. Well, actually that and it makes a lovely twist in an after-test refreshment (remove the metal parts for best results). But a lemon cell doesn’t deliver a lot of current, and the voltage is rather low compared to other battery cells even when it is at its maximum possible voltage. In fact, if you look around the internet you’ll find a number of people that made lemon cells with voltages higher than 0.4V. Many of them got 0.8V or higher. Looking at the possible differences in these tests can give us more insight into the world of batteries. So what are they doing that we aren’t?
Maybe they use bigger lemons? No, that's not the reason, and I’ll explain why. We can determine just how high the voltage in a lemon can get. We can even determine the theoretical voltage of any cell by looking at the half-reactions and the differences in their potentials. Chemists have made tables with values for different metals and materials. Looking at the tables we can theoretically make a battery cell up to about 6V using different materials. And the highest theoretical voltage for a cell using water-based electrolyte is a little over 2V. The theoretical max is about 1.1V for a lemon cell. So that’s the highest possible voltage you’ll see in a lemon cell and factors that affect the voltage will be the purity of the materials, both metals and electrolyte, and placement (construction). Maximizing the reaction is the key to the highest possible voltage. Maximizing the reaction is what the other lemon battery experimenters were doing to get a higher voltage. What we could do to get better voltage is to wait for the materials to settle in and have the greatest surface area available for the reaction, use more pure metals, or perhaps break up the inside of the lemon to get the electrolyte to flow better (or maybe some lemons are better than others).
So doesn’t lemon size matter? If we had a lemon as big as a truck and sheets of pure copper and zinc the size of picture windows, wouldn’t the voltage be even a little higher? Nope; the best you’ll see is still 1.1V. But aren’t there batteries, like powertool batteries or car batteries that are higher than 6V? There are. That’s the difference between a battery and a cell. If cells are attached to each other in series, their voltages add together. Put those in-series cells together in one container and you have a battery. So if we get 100 lemons and 100 pennies and 100 drywall anchors we could put each cell together in a row, each with ones drywall anchor hooked to the next one’s penny until they are all hooked together, except the first one’s penny and the last one’s drywall anchor. If we check the voltage of this chain at that first penny and last anchor, we could theoretically have 100 x 1.1V, or 110V! Wow, that’s like house plug voltage! Couldn’t that be dangerous? No, not really. Hooking all those lemon cells together adds voltage, but not current. And the current delivered by a lemon battery is tiny, as will be shown in a moment.
There is another way to hook the cells together; in parallel. When we put our 100 cells in a row, but this time we hook all the pennies together and all the drywall anchors together the voltage would stay at 1.1V. So what good did all that slicing and poking do if all we get is the same voltage we started with? We got capacity. It’s just a little harder to see. If we ran our lemon cell down, using a device that ran on less than a volt, and measured how much energy we got out of it before it went dead, we could call it “1 lemon worth of energy”. Our 100-lemon battery hooked in parallel would also run that 1-volt device, but now we can run it 100 times as long (all things being equal) extracting all 100 lemons worth of energy. This is, in effect, making a bigger single cell. That truck size lemon may have had only 1V too, but it would run for a very, very long time. But there is something else putting together those lemons in parallel would do for us. Let’s look at an example to demonstrate the power of a parallel connection. Can our lemon battery light a 1V light bulb? A bulb for a Mag Solitaire flashlight (it runs on 1 AAA battery) will glow with 1V, and even a little less. However, even if we get the full 1.1V out of our lemon battery, it won’t do anything at all to Solitaire bulb. The reason is that the battery is pushing enough voltage through the bulb, but the bulb is trying to get more amperage from the battery than it can supply. Another way to say it is “the big hose is full of water, but the water just isn’t moving”. However, with enough lemons in parallel, or with that truck-sized lemon, we’ll have no trouble getting that flashlight bulb to light. It’s just a matter of getting enough reaction going to supply the electron needs of a lit bulb.
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Newer, more advanced battery analyzers like the Maha MH-C9000 test more than just the battery capacity. If a battery is unable to maintain a load the Maha MH-C9000 returns a result "HIGH" which stands for High Impedance.
What is high impedance? High impedance is another term for "high internal resistance". This means with age or poor maintenance, a rechargeable battery develops a high internal resistance causing the battery to collapse with heavy current demands. So, while the battery may show a 'full charge' on a volt meter and an acceptable capacity level on an analyzer, when put to the test the battery is not able to sustain the current draw for the application causing a low battery indicator.
Are all rechargeable chemistries affected by high impedance? Yes, all rechargeable chemistries are affected by high impedance, but not in the same way. NiCad has the lowest starting internal resistance of common rechargeable chemistries, and after a hundred uses it may still maintain a low internal resistance. NiMH batteries start with a higher internal resistance and will develop higher resistance quicker than NiCad batteries, which is why most NiMH batteries have fewer charges available than a NiCad battery. Li-Ion batteries are between NiCad and NiMH, however due to the chemical construction of Li-Ion cells, cell oxidation causes irreversible high resistance with age. This is true for Li-Ion whether they are used or not.
Can high impedance be reversed? Once high impedance reaches a critical level in a rechargeable cell it is almost impossible to recover the cell to a highly useful state. Although with proper reconditioning, NiCad batteries (and in some cases Lead Acid batteries) may recover to a usable state for a brief period. NiCad batteries can be reconditioned with chargers designed to provide a reconditioning cycle.
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One of our most popular articles on the Zbattery website is on series and parallel connections between batteries. I'll reproduce it here:
We frequently get asked the question, "How am I supposed to connect my battery if I want to double the capacity but not the voltage?", or similar questions. It can be confusing if you've never done it, but hopefully this'll make it simpler. Be sure to read the important notes at the bottom to protect yourself from damaging any equipment!
Connecting in Series: When connecting your batteries in Series you are doubling the voltage while maintaining the same capacity rating (amp hours). This might be used in a scooter, Power Wheels kids vehicle, or other applications. Just use a jumper wire between the negative of the first battery and the positive of the second battery. Run your positive wire off of the open connector from the first battery and your negative off of the open connector on your second battery.
Connecting in Parallel: When connecting in Parallel you are doubling the capacity (amp hours) of the battery while maintaining the voltage of one of the individual batteries. This would be used in applications such as laptop batteries, some scooters, some ups backups, etc. Use a jumper wire between the positives of both batteries and another jumper wire between the negatives of both batteries. Connect your positive and negative wires to the same battery to run to your application.
Important notes: When connecting batteries in a pack there are some important things to keep in mind - - Find out the requirements of your application. For example: Don't double the capacity on your Power Wheels vehicle if you're not supposed to...you could burn up the engine. Follow the recommended guidelines for your application. - Don't use two different chemistries when connecting a pack. Usually the voltages will be different, but more importantly the charge rates will be different and the capacities may be different, thus resulting in a shortened life span. - Try to match capacities as much as possible. When connecting batteries in a pack you should try to match the capacities as much as possible to avoid discharging one battery quicker than another. A pack operates at a combined voltage so your one cell that discharges quicker will likely discharge deeper than it may be able to recover from.
There isn't much to add. Although if any questions come up, which can be posted below, I'll edit this post and answer them if need be.
It was mentioned a few months ago here on the Zbattery blog that the Cobalt mines that allow us to build li-ion batteries are manned by independent workers. These workers take great risks to their very lives and surely to their health, but all that they ask of you is that you don't take this mining opportunity away from them. Because even with the risk borne in this endeavor, it's the least risky job they have available.
Truly, for these men, taking them out of the frying pan would be to put them into a blast furnace.
But we are finding the problems for these men are getting better, not worse, by doing nothing. As demand for cobalt goes up, so does the price they get for it. Now one might say that only the middle-men will reap the benefits of higher prices - but this will only happen if the independent miners have to hide their work and cannot sell the products of their labor openly to multiple bidders.
So the next time the Washington Post casts their evil eye toward independent miners as they keep repeatedly doing, it will not only hurt the independent miner. It will hurt you to in the form of higher prices.
And this brings up the great opportunity for investing in lithium and cobalt. These are sure to both raise in price as demand skyrockets.
And with a mind-boggling 12 battery gigafactories on the books globally, we’re looking at a supply and demand equation that is overwhelming in favor of the new lithium miner. It’s not only Tesla: LG Chem (OTC:LGCEY), Foxconn, BYD (OCTPK:BYDDY) and Boston Power are all building new battery factories, too—among others. Imagine the manufacturing capacity here that requires monumental amounts of lithium and cobalt that we simply won’t have.
Can the price stay low enough for BEVs to be a market success? If the price of materials goes too high, the batteries will continue to hinder sales. And it will raise the price for li-ion and LiFePO4 and every other lithium chemistry, not to mention the market for grid batteries using lithium chemistries.
Although in the grid market might have other interesting changes because it has the most non-lithium based chemistries available. So look for Vanadium and Lead to continue to raise in the future despite the rush to lithium.
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Plating for layers
