Lithium Battery Research Paper

Nearly every battery in a phone, laptop or electric car is lithium based. The element lithium is a difficult substance to harvest. It must be evaporated from brine which is found in salt lakes. This brine is pumped from underground to the surface then allowed to evaporate in large pans before being separated by electrolysis. From there the lithium metal oxide is taken to a factory where it is made into battery cells [6]. At the factory the anode and cathode materials are separated for production before being added to the electrode. The anode materials are a form of carbon, whereas the cathode materials are made of the lithium metal oxide. Each of the materials are then separately combined into a semi liquid mixture, and then spread in layers onto the electrode foil. From this coating machine, the coated foils are sent into an oven. Then these cathode and anode foils are assembled. Both anodes and cathodes, for a prismatic cell, are stacked, the electrodes connected, and an electrode stack inserted. Then the sub assembly is put together. This includes connections, terminals, vents and safety devices. From there the cell is sealed using a …show more content…
Lithium batteries mark a change in battery technology and what they can be implemented in. This means, on the positive side, that car batteries will be reusable which will resolve the social issues on foreign oil dependency for the United States. That is why the United States is actively promoting the use of electric cars with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 that provides tax breaks and credits for purchasing electric vehicles. Though, the electric vehicles will be much more expensive and will require a charging infrastructure to be added which will be very expensive and larger batteries aren’t under the act described above