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Decline In Price Hikes Demand For Li-ion Batteries
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While nickel based ready to use rechargeable batteries are new entrants in India, some of its new types are yet to be launched in India.
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Friday, November 09, 2012:
Small, rechargeable battery market is dominated by breakthroughs in battery chemistries; systems integration for mobile, portable and stationary applications; reliability, energy efficiency and safety factors. Rechargeable batteries are used in countless applications including remote controls, cordless phones, mobile phones, power tools, iPods, laptops, toys, handheld games, digital cameras, flashlights, etc.
The most commonly used rechargeable batteries include lithium-ion (Li-ion), lithium polymer (Li-ion polymer), nickel cadmium (NiCd) and nickel metal-hydride (NiMH). Can these batteries ride on all the new trends or does the future lie beyond these batteries?
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What’s new in the market
Various forms of lithium batteries are emerging in the market. This trend is because lithium is more eco-friendly than lead or cadmium. Lithium is the lightest metal and leads to a high specific charge. For example, it takes 3.85 g of lead to produce 1 amp for 1 hour while it only takes 0.26 g of lithium to produce the same power. Lithium also produces a higher voltage and, therefore, a higher energy density. Almost all major players in the industry including Uniross, Prime Products, Evolute, Kandhari Photo Electronics, Panasonic, Samsung and LG offer lithium batteries.
Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are still most widely used, especially in devices like smartphones, digital cameras, compact DVDs, CD players, etc. These batteries offer 3.7 V with high capacities. One new type of Li-ion battery is currently being offered by Evolute Solutions Pvt Ltd, which is a multi-cell Li-ion battery pack and comes with a battery management and protection circuit. Montu Electronics has also designed a light weight and advanced Li-ion battery. Li-ion batteries offered by Uniross can be used in cameras, iPods and iPads.
Toshiba Corporation claims to have made a breakthrough in Li-ion batteries. Its new battery can recharge up to 80 per cent in about one minute, approximately 60 times faster than the typical Li-ion batteries. The battery also has a long life cycle, losing only 1 per cent of capacity after 1000 cycles of discharging and recharging, and can operate at very low temperatures.
Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries are one of the latest entries in the market, and have become quite popular, as these are more sturdy and can work at comparatively higher temperatures and in adverse climatic conditions. They have a nominal voltage of 3.2 V where normal AA, AAA and alkaline batteries offer 1.2 V to 1.5 V. They also offer a longer life—from 1000-2000 charge/discharge cycles, while sealed lead acid (SLA) batteries have only 300 cycles and NiMH batteries have 300-500 cycles.
Some other new types of lithium batteries seen in the market are the tri-element cells of nickel, cobalt and manganese, called NCM and cobalt oxide batteries. The former are commonly used as they are lower in cost without compromising on energy density. These batteries have slightly lower voltages, and since they have the lowest self heating rate, they are preferred for electric vehicles.
Due to their high specific energy make, cobalt oxide batteries are a popular choice for cellphones, digital cameras and laptops. These batteries have a shorter life span but can handle load capacities.
Lithium polymer batteries are the latest advancement in the Li-ion domain. These are in good demand and their biggest advantage is that they are smaller in size yet higher in capacity.
Nickel based batteries: Nickel zinc (Ni-Zn) batteries are a new type of rechargeable battery available abroad. They are environmentally safe, and have an upgraded combination of Ni-Mg, alkaline and Ni-Cd batteries. A single cell of Ni-Zn has 1.6 V and offers advanced features in comparison to other batteries. It is also the perfect combination of a higher voltage offered by alkaline batteries, the high current discharge features of Ni-Cd batteries with pollution free feature of Ni-MH batteries. Ni-Zn is used in digital cameras, shavers, electric toys, electric tools, electric bicycles, etc.
The ready to use, rechargeable and refined versions of NiCd and NiMH batteries are also new types of batteries. Under this category, Sanyo has introduced Eneloop, which is a rechargeable NiMH battery. Sanyo Eneloop rechargeable batteries come pre-charged and ready to use. This battery self-discharges extremely slowly in storage, so even after three years, it is still 75 per cent charged. This is also extremely cost effective as it can be charged 1500 times. However, some users believe that these batteries have a lower capacity than others, and work best with the Sanyo charger only.
IMS Mercantiles has also launched such ready to use rechargeable batteries. Under its brand Digitek, the company manufactures lithium batteries and power banks made up of Li-ion cells.
Duracell also offers NiMH rechargeable batteries, which are ideally suited for high drain or frequently used devices. These are available in AA and AAA sizes. These batteries can be charged hundreds of times, and are best for video game controllers and high powered flashlights. With low self discharge, Montu Electronics has also introduced DIGICAM AA 2400mAh battery in April 2012. This AA2400mAh is an NiMH ready to use rechargeable battery that gives good performance and longer life cycle.
Eveready has come up with the Eveready Recharge, which is designed to deliver optimal performance. Its high end batteries come with an intelligent charger that includes various capacity ranges.
How to choose the right battery
While making a purchase decision, a buyer should be aware about the characteristics of the various kinds of batteries available in the market, and also about the nature of the equipment these batteries will be used for. You must see the nature of application, nature of the battery.
Some other factors to consider are the operating conditions of the batteries like the temperature, as batteries tend to perform differently at different temperatures. The desired lifecycle of a battery for a particular application should also be looked into.
- Richa Chakravarty
To read the complete article, grab your copy of Electronics Bazaar (EB)
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