{"id":89,"date":"2017-03-09T07:48:24","date_gmt":"2017-03-09T07:48:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/battery-care\/?p=89"},"modified":"2017-03-09T07:48:24","modified_gmt":"2017-03-09T07:48:24","slug":"inside-a-lithium-ion-battery-pack-and-cell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/battery-care\/inside-a-lithium-ion-battery-pack-and-cell.htm","title":{"rendered":"Inside a Lithium-ion Battery Pack and Cell"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/\">Lithium-ion battery packs<\/a> come in all shapes and sizes, but they  all look about the same on the inside. If you were to take apart a  <a title=\"Quality laptop battery shop\" href=\"http:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/\">laptop battery pack<\/a> (something that we <strong>DO NOT<\/strong> recommend because of the possibility of shorting out a battery and starting a fire) you would find the following:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"3\" width=\"400\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica;\"> <\/span> <span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.howstuffworks.com\/gif\/lithium-ion-battery-2.jpg\" alt=\"inside a lithium-ion battery pack\" \/><span> <\/span><br \/>\n<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>lithium-ion cells<\/strong> can be either cylindrical <a href=\"http:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/\">batteries<\/a> that look almost identical to AA cells, or they can be <strong>prismatic<\/strong>, which means they are square or rectangularThe computer, which comprises:<\/li>\n<li>One or more <strong>temperature sensors<\/strong> to monitor the battery temperature<\/li>\n<li>A <strong>voltage converter and regulator circuit<\/strong> to maintain safe levels of voltage and current<\/li>\n<li>A shielded <strong>notebook connector<\/strong> that lets power and information flow in and out of the battery pack<\/li>\n<li>A <strong>voltage tap<\/strong>, which monitors the energy capacity of individual cells in the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/\">battery pack<\/a><\/li>\n<li>A <strong>battery charge state monitor<\/strong>, which is a small computer that handles the whole charging process to make sure the batteries charge as quickly and fully as possible.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If the battery pack gets too hot during charging or use, the computer  will shut down the flow of power to try to cool things down. If you  leave your laptop in an extremely hot car and try to use the laptop,  this computer may prevent you from powering up until things cool off. If  the cells ever become completely discharged, the battery pack will shut  down because the cells are ruined. It may also keep track of the number  of charge\/discharge cycles and send out information so the laptop&#8217;s  battery meter can tell you how much charge is left in the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/toshiba\/pa3533u-1bas-battery.htm\">Toshiba pa3533u-1bas battery<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s a pretty sophisticated little computer, and it draws power from the  batteries. This power draw is one reason why lithium-ion <a href=\"http:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/toshiba\/pa3399u-1bas-battery.htm\">Toshiba pa3399u-1bas battery<\/a> lose  5 percent of their power every month when sitting idle.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lithium-ion Cells<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As with most batteries you have an outer case made of metal. The use of  metal is particularly important here because the battery is pressurized.  This metal case has some kind of pressure-sensitive <strong>vent hole<\/strong>.  If the battery ever gets so hot that it risks exploding from  over-pressure, this vent will release the extra pressure. The <a href=\"..\/..\/toshiba\/pa3537u-1bas-battery.htm\">Toshiba pa3537u-1bas battery<\/a> will probably be useless afterwards, so this is something to avoid. The  vent is strictly there as a safety measure.  So is the <strong>Positive Temperature Coefficient (PTC) <\/strong> switch, a device that is supposed to keep the battery from overheating.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"3\" width=\"400\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica;\"> <\/span> <span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.howstuffworks.com\/gif\/lithium-ion-battery-5.jpg\" alt=\"inside a lithium-ion cell\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>This metal case holds a long spiral comprising three thin sheets pressed together:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A <strong>Positive electrode<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>A <strong>Negative electrode<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>A <strong>separator<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Inside the case these sheets are submerged in an organic solvent that acts as the electrolyte. Ether is one common solvent.<\/p>\n<p>The separator is a very thin sheet of microperforated plastic. As the  name implies, it separates the positive and negative electrodes while  allowing ions to pass through.<\/p>\n<p>The positive electrode is made of Lithium cobalt oxide, or LiCoO<sub>2<\/sub>.  The negative electrode is made of carbon. When the battery charges,  ions of lithium move through the electrolyte from the positive electrode  to the negative electrode and attach to the carbon. During discharge,  the lithium ions move back to the LiCoO<sub>2<\/sub> from the carbon.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"3\" width=\"400\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica;\"> <\/span> <span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.howstuffworks.com\/gif\/lithium-ion-battery-4.jpg\" alt=\"lithium-ion battery charge mechanism\" \/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"3\" width=\"400\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica;\"> <\/span> <span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/static.howstuffworks.com\/gif\/lithium-ion-battery-6.jpg\" alt=\"lithium-ion battery discharge mechanism\" \/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>The movement of these lithium ions happens at a fairly high voltage, so  each cell produces 3.7 volts. This is much higher than the 1.5 volts  typical of a normal AA alkaline cell that you buy at the supermarket and  helps make lithium-ion batteries more compact in small devices like  cell phones. See <a href=\"http:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/battery-care\/how-lithium-ion-laptop-batteries-work.htm\">How Batteries Work<\/a> for details on different battery chemistries.<\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;ll look at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/20-ways-to-extend-laptop-battery-life.html\"><strong>how to prolong the life of a lithium-ion battery<\/strong><\/a> and explore why they can explode next.<\/p>\n<p>Tagcloud: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/battery-care\/inside-a-lithium-ion-battery-pack-and-cell.htm\">Lithium-ion Battery Pack and Cell<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/battery-care\/inside-a-lithium-ion-battery-pack-and-cell.htm\">Lithium-ion Battery Pack<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/toshiba\/satellite-a100-battery.htm\">Toshiba satellite a100 battery<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/acer\/aspire-3690-battery.htm\">Acer aspire 3690 battery<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/acer\/aspire-one-zg5-battery.htm\">Acer aspire one zg5 battery<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/acer\/um08a72-battery.htm\">Acer um08a72 battery<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/apple\/a1175-battery.htm\">Apple a1175 laptop battery<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Read more:<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"How Lithium-ion Laptop Batteries Work\" href=\"http:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/battery-care\/how-lithium-ion-laptop-batteries-work.htm\">How Lithium-ion Batteries Work<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Scientists Home in on Lithium Laptop Battery Safety Flaws\" href=\"http:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/battery-care\/scientists-home-in-on-lithium-laptop-battery-safety-flaws.htm\">Scientists Home in on Lithium Batteries Safety Flaws<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Thanks to New Structure, batteries charge quickly and retain capacity\" href=\"http:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/battery-care\/thanks-to-new-structure-batteries-charge-quickly-and-retain-capacity.htm\">Thanks to The New Structure, batteries charge quickly and retain capacity<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Laptop Battery Breakthrough Promises Lighter Weight, More Power\" href=\"http:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/battery-care\/laptop-battery-breakthrough-promises-lighter-weight-more-power.htm\">Batteries Breakthrough Promises Lighter Weight, More Power<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"R Battery concept resurrects old batteries \u2013 Battery News by batteries-company.com\" href=\"http:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/battery-care\/r-battery-concept-resurrects-old-batteries-battery-news-by-batteries-company-com.htm\">R Battery concept resurrects old batteries<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Top 10 Batteries Usage Tips, Hacks and Tricks\" href=\"http:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/battery-care\/top-10-batteries-tips-hacks-and-tricks.htm\">Top 10 Batteries Usage Tips, Hacks and Tricks<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lithium-ion battery packs come in all shapes and sizes, but they all look about the same on the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,17,18,57,46],"tags":[112,113,114,115,110,109,111],"class_list":["post-89","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-battery-knowledge","category-battery-technology","category-battery-usage-tips","category-better-life-tips","category-tech-info","tag-acer-aspire-3690-battery","tag-acer-aspire-one-zg5-battery","tag-acer-um08a72-battery","tag-apple-a1175-laptop-battery","tag-lithium-ion-battery-pack","tag-lithium-ion-battery-pack-and-cell","tag-toshiba-satellite-a100-battery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/battery-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/battery-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/battery-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/battery-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/battery-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/battery-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91,"href":"https:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/battery-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89\/revisions\/91"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/battery-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/battery-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.batteries-company.com\/battery-care\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}