Banner Pictures Explained – Bottom Row
Collection of Primary and Rechargeable Cylindrical Cells
From left to right:
Varta and English Eveready No.8 batteries (2xBF unit cell) zinc-carbon cells
Pair of BF zinc-carbon cells (Eveready 927)
Zinc-carbon “B” cell (taken from a dead Eveready 703) (A “D” cell is behind the “B” cell for height comparison.)
Protected “18500” lithium cell
NiCd “A” cell
Alkaline “AA” cell
In 1905 Ever Ready was selling flashlights and batteries using zinc-carbon cells; later shortening the name to Eveready in 1917. The zinc-carbon system used ammonium chloride or zinc chloride solutions for the electrodes. In the 1950’s Urry, working at Union Carbide’s Eveready Battery division invented the alkaline version of the zinc-carbon cell. Alkaline cells have 3-5 times the capacity of an equivalent sized zinc-carbon cell and are therefore the primary cell of choice today.
Collection of Nickel Cadmium and Nickel Metal Hydride
Waldmar Jungner invented the nickel-cadmium battery in 1899 but due to the use of expensive materials they were not fully commercialized for many years. Larger ventilated wet cell NiCd batteries are still used today in aircraft, rail, mass transit, emergency lighting, standby power, and uninterruptible power supplies and other applications; when larger capacities and high rate discharges are required. Sealed nickel-cadmium batteries were developed in the 1940’s. Rather than venting, the internal gases generated during charge were recombined. These advances led to the modern sealed nickel-cadmium battery; although environmental issues with cadmium have led to restrictions and some bans on the use of these batteries in consumer applications.
The nickel metal hydride battery was invented in 1967 but required over 20 years of development into the 1990’s before it began to take serious market share from nickel cadmium batteries due to a large improvement in energy density (and environmental issues). Both the nickel-cadmium and nickel-metal hydride cells use nickel oxyhydroxide (NiOOH) for their positive electrodes. In a nickel-metal hydride cell the negative cadmium electrode is replaced with a hydrogen-absorbing alloy.
Collection of Lithium-ion Cells and Batteries
Lithium-ion batteries are a family of rechargeable battery types in which lithium ions move from the negative electrode to the positive electrode during discharge and back when charging. Compared to lithium metal anode batteries, lithium-ion batteries use an intercalated lithium compound as the anode, compared to metallic lithium. Anode materials were originally carbons and graphites but now include high energy silicon and high power lithium titanate. There are many different cathode intercalation active materials including lithium cobalt oxide, lithium manganese spinel, lithium nickel-manganese-cobalt oxide, lithium nickel-cobalt-aluminum oxide and lithium iron phosphate.
Following many years of developments in intercalation materials by scientists including Whittingham, Besenhard, Goodenough, Yazami, and Yoshino; lithium-ion batteries were first commercialized by Sony in 1991 and Asahi-Toshiba in 1992. Moli Energy, a Canadian company, was the first to commercialize lithium-ion batteries in North America in 1994.
Iontensity Lithium-ion Cells
Iontensity develops and assembles lithium-ion pouch cells in various form factors depending on customer requirements. Iontensity is a low volume assembler specializing in customized battery designs and R&D of new chemistries and materials. Iontensity has extensive experience with high energy Si anode cells and high power lithium titanate anode cells.