Which type of battery is Suitable for your application? A Comparison Chart

	Lead Acid	Li-ion Cobalt	Li-ion Manganese	Li-ion phosphate	Li-ion titanate	Li-Polymer	NiCad	NiMh	Alkaline
Energy Density (Wh/Kg)	30-50	150-250	100-150	90-120	30-110	100-130	45-80	60-120	70-80
Cell Voltage (V)	2	3.6	3.7	3.2-3.3	2.4	3.6	1.2	1.2	1.5
Cycle Life (up to 80% of initial capacity)	200-300	500-1000	500-1000	1000-2000	1000-5000	300-500	1500	300-500	~50
Self- Discharge/ month	5%	(3% -protection circuit)	(3% -protection circuit)	(3% -protection circuit)	(3% -protection circuit)	(3% -protection circuit)	20%	30%
Charge Time (hrs.)	8-16	2-4	1-2	1-2		2-4	1-2	2-4	2-3
Operating Tempera -ture (C)	-20 to 60	-20 to 60	-20 to 60	-20 to 60	-40 to 55	0 to 60	-40 to 60	-20 to 60	0 to 65
Peak load current	5C	2C	>30C	>30C	10C	>40C	20C	5C	~2C
Safety & Maintenance	Stable- (3-6) Months (topping charge)	Protection Circuit mandatory	Protection Circuit mandatory	Protection Circuit mandatory	Protection Circuit mandatory	Protection Circuit mandatory	Stable- Fuse protection	Stable- Fuse protection	Stable- Fuse Protection
Toxicity	Very High	Low	Low	Low	Low	Very High	Low	Low	Low
Cost	Low	High	High	High	High	High	Moderate	Moderate	Low

Secondary batteries:

Rechargeable batteries serves a lifesaving option for many devices and systems, but when it comes choosing the right one leads to a confusion which one to be deployed? A comparison chart below gives feature list comparison of different battery chemistries that are widely used, let's get tabular!

Fact: About 70 percent of the world's lithium comes from brine (salt lakes); the remainder is derived from hard rock. Research institutions are developing technology to draw lithium from seawater. Most Li-ion batteries do not contain lithium in metallic form but only in metal oxide. The lithium raw material in a Li-ion battery is only a fraction of one cent per watt, or less than 1 percent of the battery cost. 0.05-1 mg of lithium requires 1 liter of brine/mineral water.

Primary batteries:

Primary (non-rechargeable) batteries plays an important role where charging is impractical and size concerns!

	Alkaline	Zinc-Carbon	Li-FeS2
Capacity (AA)	1800-2600	400-1700	2500-3500
Discharge rate	low	Very low	Moderate
Shelf life	7 years	1-2 years	10-15 years
Cell Voltage	1.5	1.5	1.5
Cost	Low	Low	Moderate

Fig: Chart above gives brief comparison on different widely used primary batteries in different size variations.

Tip: Most of the lithium ion battery fires are caused by separator failure that leads to an electrical short- reasons are high discharge rates, ultra-fast charging – Some suppliers recommend to decrease the charge voltage by:- 100–70% capacity apply the full 4.20V/cell (4.35V/cell or higher for some cells)

- 70–50% capacity reduce the voltage limit to 4.15V/cell (4.35V/cell to 4.25V/cell)

- 50% and lower capacity, decrease the voltage to 3.8V/cell.

Fig: Pressure increase between electrodes as a function of cycling and state-of-health (SoH)