Today, millions of people around the world use lithium-ion batteries on a regular basis. These batteries are so popular that they are used in thousands of different types of electronic devices, such as smartphones, laptops, and electric cars. Since these batteries offer many advantages, they are quite popular with the masses. They are lightweight, offer higher energy density, and can be recharged thousands of times. In this article, we’ll get a deeper insight into how these drives work. Keep reading to know more.

The basics

Basically, this type of battery consists of a pair of current collectors, electrolyte, separator, cathode and anode. Lithium is stored in the anode and the cathode. The electrolyte is the carrier of the positively charged lithium ions to the cathode and anode through the separator.

What happens is that the movement of lithium ions is responsible for generating free electrons. These electrons are at the anode that generates energy in the positive current collector. Subsequently, the current flows through a device that receives the energy. It can be a computer or a cell phone, for example. It is known as a negative current collector. Inside the battery, spacer blocks block the flow of electrons.

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During the discharge process, the battery transmits current to the attached device. The anode sends lithium ions to the other unit called the cathode. In this process, the electrons travel from one side to the other. On the other hand, when the device is plugged in, the opposite happens. In other words, the cathode releases lithium ions. The anode receives them.

This is how the process continues during the charge / discharge cycle. After this discharge / charge cycle, the life of the battery continues to decrease. However, high-end batteries retain 80% of their capacity even after 1000 cycles.

Power density vs energy density

There are many concepts related to lithium ion batteries, but the most common are known as power density and energy density. Basically, energy density is generally measured in watt hours per kilogram.

On the other hand, power density is calculated in watts per kilogram, as well as the amount of energy generated by the battery in terms of mass. In other words, it is like a drainage pool. The size of the pole refers to the energy density, while the power density is like draining the pool. So this concept is pretty easy to understand. If a battery has a higher capacity, it can provide an electrical charge for a longer period of time.

Simply put, if you are trying to understand how lithium ion batteries work, you are on the right page. The description of lithium ion battery functionality provided in this article will help you better understand how these units work. Hopefully, you now have a better understanding of how this technology works.

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