Lithium safety characteristic

Ichimura M (2007) The safety characteristics of lithium-ion batteries for mobile phones and the nail penetration test. In Proceedings of the 29th international telecommimications energy... 

G. L. Henriksen et al., Safety Characteristics of Lithium-AUoy/Metal Sulfide Batteries, Proc. 7th... 

While additives meant to improve the SEl certainly constitute a major portion of the additive research for Li-ion batteries, many other additives aim to improve different aspects of the Li-ion batteries, such as the safety characteristics, ionic conductivity of the electrolyte, and high/low temperature performance of the electrolyte. For example, researchers have developed redox shuttle and overcharge shutdown additives to protect the battery from overcharge and the resulting thermal mnaway, flame retardant additives to reduce the flammability of the electrolyte, and anion receptors to enhance the ionic conductivity and increase the lithium transference number. These additives may not be critical to the cell performance, but may be very important and possibly necessary in commercial batteries. 

Bis, R. and Murphy, R. (1986) Safety Characteristics of Non-Lithium Battery Systems, Naval Surface Warfare Center. 

Sony s Introduction of the rechargeable lithium-ion battery in the early 1990s precipitated a need for new separators that provided not only good mechanical and electrical properties but also added safety through a thermal shutdown mechanism. Although a variety of separators (e.g., cellulose, nonwoven fabric, etc.) have been used in different type of batteries, various studies on separators for lithium-ion batteries have been pursued in past few years as separators for lithium-ion batteries require different characteristics than separators used in conventional batteries. 

Lithium ion technology offers high-energy density with the added benefit of low mass. These characteristics make it ideal for automotive applications. This technology is the fastest growing battery system [29], Protection circuits are needed to limit voltages for safety reasons. 

To date, lithium-ion battery is the gold standard for miniaturized power supply. However, it has potential safety issues, and it is neither carbon-neutral nor renewable. Almost all other miniaturized power supplies including hydrogen fuel cells, nuclear batteries, Ni-Cd batteries, and lead-acid batteries suffer from either safety or environmental issues. MFC is a potential substitute of miniaturized power supply, for its carbon-neutral, renewable, and environmentally friendly characteristics. By applying microfabrication and microfluidic techniques, the advantages of economical mass production and large surface-area-to-volume ratio will enable MFC, a potential candidate in the miniaturized power supply. 

Apparently, these commercial lithium-ion polymer batteries have characteristics, such as reduction in thickness and improvements in safety, which make them very appealing for the modern consumer electronics markets, particularly the new generation of cellular phones. This may lead to the conclusion that the evolution of the lithium-ion battery technology will be focused on polymer configurations with an output that is expected to soon experience a substantial share in the electronics market. 

---