A customer wrote in and asked, why are there no fully-lithium batteries? I only hear of lithium oxides, lithium ions and so on, they continued. Why don’t you see if you can make a case for pure lithium batteries, because they could be a winner! We dug down in the facts and report as follows:
Is There a Case for Pure Lithium Batteries?
Well, we could have pure lithium storage batteries in theory, with a pure lithium metal anode. Although in practice an entirely lithium metal battery would be unsafe, unstable, and impractical. Here are 5 reasons that disprove the case for pure lithium batteries, as matters stand:
# 1 PURE LITHIUM METAL IS UNSTABLE
Lithium metal reacts violently with water, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide. The tiniest leak in the cell casing could cause the lithium to overheat, or worse.
# 2 RISK OF UNEVEN PLATING
Lithium metal plates unevenly on the receiving electrode. Resulting dendrites could short-circuit the battery leading to thermal runaway.
# 3 LITHIUM EXPANDS AND CONTRACTS
Soft lithium metal expands massively during charging and discharging. Cracking and disintegration can soon cause the battery to stop working.
# 4 THE CATHODE MATERIAL
If the pure lithium anode were to survive, the pure lithium cathode would soon consume itself. We would need a different material for the cathode.
# 5 LITHIUM METAL IS TOO SOFT
Lithium metal is as soft as cheese, and melts at 180 °C / 360 °F. It could not maintain mechanical integrity in a tightly wound cell.
Compromise Semi-Lithium Metal Batteries
Despite all of the above, the battle is not lost. We have heard work is in progress to develop solid state batteries with entirely lithium anodes, and cathodes of metal oxides. However, we gather developers face safety, cycling, and cost hurdles.
In a nutshell then, the case for pure lithium batteries is far from proven. Pure lithium metal cannot do the job on its own. It needs support from other metals to stand a chance of success.
More Information
Why Lithium Metal Batteries Fade Away
