Difference between Li-Ion battery types

[HeadTool]

Hi,

Maybe some of you double e's here can clear this up for me? There a number of different Li-Ion battery types out that seem to use the same specifications and abbreviations. They are the Lithium iron phosphate battery (LiFePO4) and the Lithium-ion polymer battery (Li-poly, Li-Pol, LiPo, LIP, PLI or LiP)

First question; Is it Lithium Iron or Ion of the LiFeP04 batteries? According to Wikipedia it is Lithium Iron NOT Ion as is commonaly used.

Second question; Are these technologies the same? It looks like LifeBatt uses Lithium Iron Phospate technology, A123 uses "Nanophosphateâ„¢ lithium ion (not iron) and Advanced battery technology uses "Polymer Lithium-ion". yet that all make the similar claims as to the performance of their respective formulations.

So is it Iron or Ion? and is Phospate interchangeable with Polymer?

Links below, thanks for listening.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_iron_phosphate_battery
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_polymer

 

[Ypedal]

My version of it.. goes something like this.. all lithium batteries are " Lithium Ion " .

A123 / Lifebatt / BMI / PSI / LFP / LiFePo4 / LiFe / are similar, 3.2v per cell ( supposed to be longer cycle life )

Then you get Li Cobalt and Manganese at 3.6v per cell ( Less cycle life than LiFePo4)

LIpo often describes a " Foil Pouch " but in fact either LiFePo4 or LiCobalt etc can all be made into either a round cell.. or flat pouch..

Lithium Cobalt can go up in flames if you don't treat them properly ( overcharge.. overdischarge.. puncture.. etc.. )

Lithium Manganese ( Emoli ( Milwaukee) , Sony " Konion " (makita) , etc ) are not supposed to erupt like Cobalt if treated badly...

Hopefully that helps.

 

[AndyH]

First question; Is it Lithium Iron or Ion of the LiFeP04 batteries? According to Wikipedia it is Lithium Iron NOT Ion as is commonaly used.

The LiFePO4 'name' is made of the chemical symbols (from the periodic table) for major components -

Li Lithium
Fe Iron
P Phosphorus
O Oxygen

The PO4 is 'phosphate' ion - a salt of phosphoric acid.

 

[dogman dan]

The main distinction to know, to me, is that lithim polymer, or lipoly, or lipo, is generally the type to be charged in a place that can catch on fire without burning the house down. This type has good discharge rates, and so is popular with the RC hobbyists since the power to weight ratio is good. Cycle life is a lot less than Lifepo4, and so is the price usually. It can be a good choice, but if you have the bux, go for lifepo4 since you don't have to set up a safe charging station, and can leave the battery on the bike to charge. Some of the lower discharge rate lifepo4 , such as the Ping battery ,can be the best deal on the cost per cycle.