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Lithium is an element. What happens to lithium batteries over time that makes the lithium no longer lithiumish enough?
by knodi123 8y ago
Lithium is an element. What happens to lithium batteries over time that makes the lithium no longer lithiumish enough?
- taeric 8y agoI'm also curious on this. My understanding is that common computer li-ion batteries basically expire after a few years. Whether you use them or not. Sorta sucks, as I used to buy spare batteries for laptops. Turned out, the spares would be as bad as the worn out one in the computer.
- vel0city 8y agoThe anodes and cathodes of the cells tend to acquire a film of lithium and electrolyte oxides which reduce the coulombic efficiency of the cells, i.e. it makes it harder for the electrons to interface between the anodes and cathodes. I don't see a reason why we cannot extract the lithium from old cells for reuse, other than economic efficiencies of fresh lithium supply versus the cost of sorting, unpacking, and extracting from old batteries.