With the development of science and technology, lithium battery products have now become the mainstream. Lithium battery is a kind of battery made of lithium metal or lithium alloy as negative material and using non-aqueous electrolyte solution. It can be roughly divided into two categories: lithium metal battery and lithium ion battery. In literature and real life, lithium battery and lithium ion battery are a pair of concepts that are different from each other and have a relationship of inheritance and development. How Are Lithium Batteries Charged And What Is The Principle? As lithium ion batteries are used more and more widely, people generally refer to lithium ion batteries as lithium battery.
Lithium metal battery was first developed and researched in 1912. It can also be called lithium primary battery. It is a kind of disposable battery, mainly including lithium manganese, lithium iron battery and so on. Lithium metal batteries can be discharged continuously or intermittently, and can no longer be used once the power is exhausted.
lithium batteries charged
Lithium-ion battery refers to a secondary battery system in which two different lithium intercalation compounds capable of reversible, intercalation and deintercalation of lithium ions are used as the positive and negative electrodes of the battery, respectively. The lithium-ion battery can be recharged cyclically. Lithium batteries and lithium ion batteries have the same point in the positive electrode and electrolyte. Both batteries use metal oxides and sulfides as positive electrodes, and organic solvents or inorganic salt systems as electrolytes.
Correct charging method of lithium battery
Charging the new battery
The new battery generally needs to be activated. After the battery is placed for a period of time, it will enter the dormant state. At this time, the capacity is lower than the normal value, and the use time is also shortened, so it needs to be activated. The activation method of lithium battery is very simple, as long as 3-5 normal charge-discharge cycles can be used to activate the battery and restore its normal capacity.
Old Battery Charging
Charging method
An old battery refers to a battery that has been charged and discharged many times, not a scrapped battery. The life of a lithium battery has nothing to do with the number of charges and discharges. It has no memory effect. No matter how you charge it, it will not affect the number of charging cycles. Therefore, do not charge the battery until it is completely dead. It is best to fully charge the battery when you can. The charging time is preferably within 2-3 hours. Of course, you do not have to fully charge it.
Charging voltage
The safe operating voltage range of lithium batteries is 2.8 to 4.2V. Below or above this voltage range, the lithium ions in the battery become unstable. To keep the battery in a safe range, a special charger is required. These chargers automatically adjust their charging method based on the current state of the battery.
Charging tool
Lithium batteries should be charged with a special charger, which can ensure the safety of charging. When the charger is working, it charges the battery with a constant current. As the battery voltage increases, the charger simultaneously increases the charging voltage to speed up the charging speed. When the battery reaches the cut-off voltage of 4.2V, the battery is only charged to about 70% of the power (not full). At this time, the charger continues to charge the battery with a constant voltage and a gradually decreasing current. When the value is less than 0.1A and still detects that the battery voltage continues to rise, it stops charging.
Recharge regularly
Lithium batteries that are not used for a long time should be stored in a cool, dry place in a half-charged state. Storing a battery with a full charge can cause damage, and storing it without a charge can damage the battery and render it useless. During the storage process, every 3–6 months, a charging cycle should be completed and a power calibration should be done.
How long is the life of a lithium battery
Lithium batteries can generally be fully charged and discharged for 300-500 charging cycles. After this number of times, the battery cannot be used. Of course, this can only be used as a reference. The life of a lithium battery has nothing to do with the number of charges, but is related to the cycle of charge and discharge, that is, the number of times it is charged from zero to full. A charging cycle means that all the power of the battery is fully charged from full to empty, and then charged from empty to full, which is not equivalent to charging once. For example, a lithium battery is only half charged on the first day, and then fully charged. If the next day is still the same, that is, half of the charge, a total of two charges down, this only counts as one charge cycle, not two.
In daily life, it may usually take several charges to complete a cycle. Each time a charge cycle is completed, the battery capacity decreases a little. However, this reduction in power is very small. High-quality batteries will still retain 80% of their original capacity after being charged for many cycles. Many lithium-ion battery-powered products are still used as usual after two or three years. Of course, lithium batteries still need to be replaced at the end of their life.
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Advantages of Lithium Batteries
- The lithium battery has a high voltage platform. The average voltage of the single battery is 3.7V or 3.2V, which is approximately equal to the series voltage of 3 nickel-cadmium batteries or nickel-hydrogen batteries, which is convenient for forming a battery power pack.
- Compared with batteries, lithium batteries have high energy density. It has high storage energy density, which has reached 460-600Wh/kg, which is about 6-7 times that of lead-acid batteries.
- Compared with lead-acid batteries, lithium batteries are lighter in weight, and the weight of the same volume is about 1/5-6 of lead-acid products.
- The service life of lithium battery is relatively long, and the service life can reach more than 6 years. The battery with lithium iron phosphate as the positive electrode is charged and discharged with 1CDOD, and there is a record of 1000 times of use.
- With high power tolerance, the lithium iron phosphate lithium ion battery for electric vehicles can reach 15-30C charge and discharge capacity, which is convenient for high-intensity start-up acceleration.
- Low self-discharge rate and no memory effect, often used in daily electronic products power supply.
- The lithium battery has strong high and low temperature adaptability, and can be used in the environment of -20℃–60℃. After technical treatment, it can be used in the environment of -45℃.
- Green and environmental protection, regardless of production, use and scrap, it does not contain or produce any toxic and harmful heavy metal elements and substances such as lead, mercury, and cadmium.
