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How to Choose the Right Battery for Your Application: Alkaline vs. Ni-MH vs. Lithium-Ion Batteries

As battery technology continues to upgrade, you need to know which type of battery is best for your device/product. There are many different types of batteries used in a variety of applications. From lead-acid to lithium-ion polymer batteries, different types of batteries have different properties based on different chemistries. But how do you choose batteries for your appliances/products? To better understand batteries, let’s take a look at the three types of batteries: alkaline, NiMH, and lithium ion batteries respectively.


Alkaline battery: Alkaline batteries use potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide as the standard electrolyte solution. The anode is made of zinc powder; the cathode consists of manganese dioxide. Alkaline batteries are disposable primary cells.


Ni–MH (nickel metal hydride) battery: Ni-MH batteries are a type of rechargeable battery and an evolved version of Ñ ickel- Ç admium (nickel-cadmium) batteries use potassium hydroxide as the electrolyte. The positive electrode is made of nickel oxide hydroxide. The negative electrode is a hydrogen storage alloy/metal hydride.


Lithium-ion battery: An advanced battery technology developed over many years. Using lithium metal oxide for the positive electrode and lithium carbon compound for the negative electrode, lithium ion batteries usually use ether as the electrolyte.


After introducing these three types of batteries, we can look at their salient features and the differences between them.


Energy density: Energy in watt hours per kilogram (Wh/kg) per kilogram of battery. Lithium-ion batteries have a higher energy density in the range of 110 to 160 Wh/kg compared to alkaline and lithium-ion batteries. NiMH batteries have an energy density in the range of 60-120 Wh/kg and alkaline batteries have an energy density of 80 Wh/kg.


Monthly self-discharge: All batteries are subject to self-discharge. Among the three types of batteries, Li-ion batteries have the lowest self-discharge rate of about 10% a month.


Recycle: Cycle life is the number of complete charge/discharge cycles that a battery can support. Lithium-ion batteries have a cycle life of 500-1000 cycles, while reusable alkaline batteries have a cycle life of only 50 cycles. Similarly, NiMH batteries have cycle lives ranging from 300-500 cycles, about half that of Li-ion batteries.


Maintenance: Reusable alkaline and Li-ion batteries require no maintenance over their lifetime. Ni-MH requires maintenance every 60-90 days.


Cost: Of the three types of batteries, reusable alkaline batteries are the least expensive and lithium ion batteries are the most expensive. The cost depends on the chemistry used in the battery, with lithium-ion batteries having much higher component prices.

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