Harmful battery components

A different situation exists during battery manufacturing and during battery disposal/recycling operations where workers may come into direct contact with toxic or harmful battery components. In addition, members of a community may be unknowingly exposed to toxic battery materials due to the improper disposal of battery wastes and the injection of toxic battery materials into their ecosystems. The latter may affect both man, animal, and plant life adversely. In general, the toxic effect of a particular material depends upon the nature of the exposure and its concentration whether it be by contact, ingestion, inhalation, or a combination of these. 

The theoretical energy density of a lithium-sulfur electrochemical system is 2500 Wh/kg or 2800 Wh/1, which makes it immensely attractive for the development of a chemical power source. This attractiveness is also enhanced by the ready availability and cheapness of sulfur and the absence of environmentally harmful components. And, indeed, attempts of developing a battery using this electrochemical system were made yet in the end of the 1960s of the previous century, at the rise of the studies of electrochemical lithium systems. It was suggested in the beginning to use the negative electrode made of metallic lithium and the positive one of elementary sulfur supported directly on the current collector. The characteristics of these first layouts were clearly unsatisfactory, partly, because sulfur is an insulator. Later, the positive electrode came to be made of a mixture of sulfur and a carbon material (carbon black). 

Another use is as an additive to the main electrolyte in lead batteries where it will prevent harmful sulphation of the plates and improve long-term performance. Phosphoric acid is also used as a component of gelled electrolytes in sealed batteries. 

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