Lithium battery

Lithium batteries of the type CR123A

A lithium battery is a primary cell that uses lithium as the active material in the negative electrode. In contrast to the lithium-ion battery, it cannot be recharged. The latter are also often referred to as lithium batteries.

General

Disassembled lithium battery (button cell type CR2032)

Due to the standard potential of around -3.05 volts (the most negative of all chemical elements ) and the resulting high cell voltage and the high theoretical capacity of 3.86  Ah / g, lithium is an "ideal" negative electrode material for electrochemical cells .

However, the high reactivity of elemental lithium (for example with water or even with moist air) is problematic in practical implementation. Therefore, only non-aqueous, aprotic electrolyte solutions , such as. B. propylene carbonate , acetonitrile or dimethoxyethane , or solid electrolytes can be used.

Anhydrous electrolyte salts (such as lithium perchlorate LiClO ₄ ) are added to increase the conductivity . The development of lithium batteries began in the 1960s.

Besides lithium , the negative electrode, the anode , usually consists of conductive graphite . Both are suspended in a polymeric binder , which is applied to an electrical conductor (metal foil) as a film to divert the electrons generated during the oxidation . Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) or polyethylene glycol (PEG) are used as binders . More recent research is aimed at using alginates in conjunction with finely divided silicon . This achieves significantly higher current densities. In addition, the alginate binders swell less than the most commonly used PVDF binders. Different oxidizing agents are used as the positive electrode, the cathode , depending on the type of battery . The classic and most commonly used is manganese dioxide . Followed by graphite fluoride as in the lithium carbon monofluoride battery .

Advantages of lithium batteries

Advantages of lithium batteries compared to other primary cells with aqueous electrolytes ( e.g. alkali-manganese battery or zinc-carbon battery ) are a higher energy density and specific energy , the high cell voltage , the very long shelf life due to low self-discharge and the wide temperature range for storage and operation .

Types and areas of application

Lithium batteries are available in many different variants, which differ in cathode , electrolyte and separator . They are available in various designs and sizes to cover a wide range of applications.

Lithium battery types, typical voltages and applications

Type	Open circuit voltage	Typical load voltage	Application / remark
Lithium thionyl chloride battery LiSOCl 2	3.7 volts	3.4 volts	Applications are the network-independent supply of electronics in the military and industrial sector, in security technology and in electronic energy meters and heat cost allocators .
Lithium manganese dioxide battery LiMnO 2	3.5 ... 3.0 volts	2.9 volts	This type is widespread and is mainly used for cameras, clocks, and as a backup battery for motherboards in personal computers. See also button cell . Suitable as a winding cell for high continuous loads and pulsed currents. The advantage over lithium batteries with a liquid cathode (LiSO 2 , LiSOCl 2 , LiSO 2 Cl 2 ) is the lower passivation of the anode, which avoids voltage drops at the beginning of the load ( voltage delay ).
Lithium-sulfur dioxide battery LiSO 2	3.0 volts	2.7 volts	Mostly used in the military sector.
Lithium carbon monofluoride battery Li (CF) n	3.2 ... 3.0 volts	3.1 ... 2.5 volts	Lithium carbon monofluoride batteries have slightly higher current carrying capacity and capacity than lithium manganese dioxide batteries, but are more expensive. They are therefore used for applications where performance is more important than cost, for example in the medical field.
Lithium-iodine battery LiI 2	2.8 volts	2.795 volts	Application for the power supply of pacemakers .
Lithium iron sulfide battery LiFeS 2	1.8 volts	1.5 volts	General application as in the photo area. Due to the same cell voltage of 1.5 V, direct replacement of alkaline manganese cells in common sizes such as Mignon (AA, IEC FR6) and Micro (AAA, IEC FR03)

Lithium button cells

Lithium battery in the form of a button cell

Lithium batteries are also available in the form of button cells . The type designation takes place here according to the following scheme:

Structure of the type designation » CR DDMM «:
CR = Lithium R and Cell Chemical Composition	DD diameter in mm	MM height in 1/10 mm
Example "CR2354"
Dimensions	Ø 23 mm	Height 5.4 mm
Example "CR17450"
Dimensions	Ø 17 mm	Height 45.0 mm

No proprietary names have been used for lithium button cells.

Slight structural deviations can occur, for example the type “CR” 2354 according to the IEC standard is a modified version of the JIS standard with a small step at the edge of the negative pole.

If graphite fluoride is used as the cathode material rather than manganese dioxide, the designation is not "CR" but "BR".

Transportation of lithium batteries

Classification of dangerous goods

Lithium batteries are generally classified as class 9 dangerous goods and have UN numbers

• UN 3090 : lithium metal batteries
• UN 3091 : lithium metal batteries in equipment or lithium metal batteries packed with equipment
• UN 3480 : lithium-ion batteries
• UN 3481 : Lithium-ion batteries in equipment or lithium-ion batteries packed with equipment

The full dangerous goods regulations do not apply to small lithium batteries. This includes the following batteries:

• Lithium-ion cells with a nominal energy of 20 Wh ${\displaystyle \leq }$
• Lithium-ion batteries with a nominal energy of 100 Wh ${\displaystyle \leq }$
• Lithium metal cells with a lithium content of 1 g ${\displaystyle \leq }$
• Lithium metal batteries with a lithium content of 2 g ${\displaystyle \leq }$

Air transport

When transporting lithium batteries by air, the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations must be observed. Details are regulated in packaging regulations 965 to 970.

Road and rail transportation

When transporting by road and rail, the regulations of ADR and RID must be observed. For small lithium batteries, the regulations are specified in special provision 188.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Lothar Jaenicke: Alginic acids as a layer material for lithium batteries . In: Chemistry in Our Time . tape 46 , no. 2 , 2012, p. 71 , doi : 10.1002 / ciuz.201290022 .
2. ↑ Ralf Hottmeyer: Comparison list button cells and batteries, technical data and comparison lists for button cells and batteries (PDF; 499 kB).
3. ↑ Appendices A and B of the European Agreement of 09/30/1957 on the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR) - Version of April 17, 2015 - Chapter 3.2 List of Dangerous Goods.
4. ↑ IATA dangerous goods regulations 57th edition (2016). Hamburg: Storck Verlag, 2015.
5. ↑ Appendices A and B of the European Agreement of 09/30/1957 on the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR) - Version of April 17, 2015 - Chapter 3.3 Special provisions applicable to certain substances or objects.

literature

• Lucien F. Trueb, Paul Rüetschi: Batteries and accumulators - Mobile energy sources for today and tomorrow . Springer, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-540-62997-1
• David Linden, Thomas B. Reddy (Eds.): Handbook of Batteries . 3rd edition, McGraw-Hill, New York 2002, ISBN 0-07-135978-8 .
• Wiebke Dirks, Hendrik Vennemann: Lithium batteries . In Chemkon 12, No. 1, ISSN  0944-5846 , 2005, pp. 7-14
• Günter Eichinger, Günter Semrau: Lithium Batteries I - Chemical Basics . In Chemie in our time 24, No. 1, ISSN  0009-2851 , 1990, pp. 32-36
• Günter Eichinger, Günter Semrau: Lithium batteries II - discharge reactions and complete cells . In Chemie in our time 24, No. 2, ISSN  0009-2851 , 1990, pp. 90-96

Web links

Commons : lithium battery  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Rolf Zinniker: Lithium batteries . ETH Zurich, 2003, accessed on May 23, 2011.
• Official website of the Foundation for the Joint Take-Back System for Batteries.
• IATA Lithium Battery Guidance (IATA regulations for the transport of lithium batteries by air) .
• Investigation of the fire behavior of lithium-ion and lithium-metal batteries in various applications and derivation of tactical recommendations , research report by the Research Center for Fire Protection Technology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology - KIT (PDF).