So today we are going to talk about a very important part of the electronics industry and without it, I guess all our electronic equipment like smartphones, laptops, desktops, printers, and many other gadgets will be considered as dead. Yes Batteries, batteries play a very important role in keeping our devices juiced up. Today we are going to take a closer look at the batteries, the types, how they work, and how are they different from each other.
So whenever we talk about batteries or when we purchase a new electronics device we always come across these terms: Lithium-Ion (Li-ion) or Lithium-Polymer (Li-Po) batteries. But you ever thought about what these terms Li-ion and Li-Po mean? Don't you worry we're just about to find out about these terms in a minute?
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Difference between Lithium-ion and Lithium-polymer battery
HOW LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES WORK?
Lithium-ion batteries are way old than we know. Lithium-ion batteries first developed back in 1912, but they came to lime-light in 1991 when SONY started to use them heavily. Since then, one can find li-ion batteries in a wide range of daily use gadgets from music players, cameras to smartphones. Due to its very high energy density and lack of "memory effect" (in which cells become difficult to charge over time). And due to their cheap availability, they are so successful and known to everyone in the world.
In Li-ion batteries, two electrodes one positive and one negative are placed separated in a liquid electrolyte, like ethylene carbonate or diethyl carbonate. One thing is definitely to consider that, the capacity of these batteries decreases over charge cycles and even drains off when your device is in idle condition too. And one should keep away these batteries from direct sunlight or extreme temperatures because these get unstable at high temperatures and may catch fire in some cases as well. To tackle this kind of situation electronic controllers are often used to keep the temperature within limits.
HOW LITHIUM-POLYMER BATTERIES WORK?
Lithium-polymer batteries came in exitance right after lithium-ion batteries, somewhere around in the 1970s. In these batteries, we have again two electrodes one positive and one negative, but here for electrolytes, a dry solid, a porous chemical, or a gel-like electrolyte is used instead of a liquid electrolyte. Thus making these batters a bit more flexible, more robust and rough in design, and very minimal of leakage electrons, thus making overall lighter and safer. But all this comes at a high cost. This battery type is costlier than that of lithium-ion. Like lithium-ion, in this type of battery technology, some sort of protection circuits also being employed to keep operating voltage under control.
So, What is the difference between lithium-ion and lithium-polymer batteries?
OR
Which is better: Lithium-ion or Lithium-polymer batteries?
The main and key difference the lithium-ion and lithium-polymer batteries are the types of electrolytes used in both of them. Li-ion battery uses a liquid electrolyte, whereas lithium-Po battery uses a gel type(semi-solid) of electrolyte. Apart from this both have their pros and cons as well.
Lithium-Ion batteries are relatively high in power density and costs lower lithium-Po batteries. On the other hand, the downside of lithium-ion batteries is gradual self-discharge, leakage of electrons which causes overheating issues.
On the other hand, lithium-Po batteries are more robust and flexible, a slow self-discharge rate, super lightweight, lower chance of suffering from leakage electrons thus making them much safer than lithium-ion batteries. talking about the drawbacks these are much costlier than lithium-ion batteries and have lower energy density than lithium-ion batteries.
CONCLUSION
So this was all about the difference between lithium-ion and lithium-Po batteries. I hope now got a fair idea about which is better: lithium-ion battery or lithium-polymer.
And if you like what you just read then share it with your family and friends and if you have any questions related to this then let me know in the comment section down below. See you next time till then signing off.
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