Recovering Lithium-Ion Batteries : 8 Steps

29, Jul. 2024

 

Recovering Lithium-Ion Batteries : 8 Steps

Like I said, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are everywhere! This is what makes getting these batteries cheap because people tend to toss old electronics that get broken or just stop working, but leave the battery inside. I usually get mine from the thrift store for pennies, or from old toys people give away or get broken and donate for science. The ones to look for are as follows: hand-held devices, cell phones, digital cameras or camcorders, portable DVD or video players, and my personal favorite, laptop batteries. There are different chemistries associated with rechargeable lithium-ion cells as well such as lithium cobalt oxide (ICR-type), lithium iron phosphate or LiFePO4, (you won't encounter these being thrown away often), lithium manganese oxide (IMR), lithium manganese nickle (INR) and lithium nickle manganese cobalt oxide (NCA or hybrid). The MOST common you will find are the ICR-type lithium cobalt oxide. It's the best for energy density and power, but has average to low discharge current and temperature threshold. The maximum discharge current for these is equal or at least double the capacity at most. Plus, they are less stable (read: dangerous) than the other types and need to have some kind of protection circuitry. Now, let's not confuse lithium-ion batteries with lithium-ion polymer batteries or LiPo batteries. In LiPo batteries the electrolyte, anode, and cathode, positive and negative terminals, are housed in polymer pouches. The internal chemistry is similar to lithium-ion cells. Depending on the device, the battery will be different in shape or size, but they are usually rectangular and thin for cell phones or compact devices, or cylindrical like (common in laptop batteries) or common in hump packs for cameras or camcorders.

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In case you've ever wondered, the name of the battery contains its dimensions. "" means the battery is 18 mm in diameter and 65 mm long. The "0" is just hanging out. Regardless of the type or size, these may have a single cell, or multiple cells. Multiple cells are either in series or parallel, or a mix of both. Even small batteries can have two small cells inside connected in series or series/parallel. This is due to the fact that some devices have increased voltage needs more than a single cell can provide, or to add capacity. Series connections increase the voltage, and parallel connections increase the capacity of the pack. Unlike NiMH or NiCad batteries, lithium-ion battery packs will have some kind of protection device in them like a battery management system consisting of IC's and MOSFET's or resistors that regulate current, voltage, detect short circuits, reverse polarity, and temperature. Some have an added function of balancing the cells if there are multiple cells. Why do they need this? It's because the chemistry of the lithium cell makes it sensitive to over charging, over- discharging (draining until the voltage gets too low), short circuit, and even over temperature. Any of those can damage the cell, or worse, cause a fire. Multiple cell batteries in series need the balance function that makes sure each individual cell receives the same amount of current and voltage as the other cells. If one cell gets more charge than another one, it can wear out faster or get damaged. The capacity of the pack is also reduced. These types of batteries also require special charging procedures that NiMH or NiCad's don't. More on that later!

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What CR open circuit voltage is considered "dead"

My point is that even though a cell measures 3V open circuit it may still be too depleted to use. It really doen't matter what the current drain of a given pocket calculator is if the cell powering it is depleted and won't operate the calculator, but you may still be able to measure 3V from the cell open circuit.

This characteristic of cells had me scratching my head for a while when I first discovered it. I'm too accustomed to batteries that measure low open circuit voltage when they are depleted. I couldn't understand why I kept measuring 3V from depleted cells until I tested them under load. Then it dawned on me that with these cells open circuit voltage can't really indicate the state of charge. Of course, if your calculator doesn't stay on because the cell is depleted you have just load tested it's cell and confirmed that it is , for the purpose of powering your calculator, depleted.

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