You may have heard of lithium-ion batteries before but not really be familiar with what they are and what they are used for. These are the batteries that power vape devices, allowing the coil to vaporise the e-liquid.
In fact, they are used to power a lot of our favourite gadgets, and most people will find they don’t go a day without using a device that contains a lithium-ion battery of some kind.
What Are Li-Ion Batteries?
Li-ion is the abbreviation used for Lithium-Ion batteries of which are a type of rechargeable battery used in a variety of household electronic items.
These batteries work by moving lithium-ions from the negative electrode to the positive during power discharge when the device is being used and then moving them back from positive to negative during charging.
Li-ion batteries use intercalated lithium for the electrodes, as opposed to the metallic lithium used in disposable lithium batteries, this allows them to be recharged using battery bay chargers.
Why Use Li-Ion Batteries?
Lithium-ion batteries are the preferred battery type for many electronic items for a variety of different reasons. They are very light in comparison to their energy density, this is ideal for handheld devices as it allows them to remain lightweight while still having a long battery life.
Li-ion batteries also have a very small memory effect, this describes how over time the battery life on a device decreases and it is considered to not be holding the charge as well as it once did. The amount of charge lost on a Li-ion battery is just 5% per month, which is very minimal in comparison to the 20% per month lost in NiMH batteries.
Lithium-ion batteries can also be recharged hundreds of times over their lifetime, meaning a device that is in constant daily use can be charged every day if need be without issue.
What Are They Used For?
As well as being found in your vape device, these batteries are used in a whole host of common household items, these include mobile phones, MP3 players, laptop computers, digital cameras, handheld gaming consoles and many more.
They are also used in many cordless power tools and garden tools, and Li-ion batteries are now even being used in electric and hybrid cars!
How Are They Used in Vaping?
Lithium-ion batteries are not only used in vaping devices with built-in batteries, the external batteries used in some mods such as 18650s are Li-ion batteries too!
Using Li-ion batteries allows the device to remain relatively lightweight whilst still letting the device be recharged as many times as is needed in its lifetime. Electronic cigarettes would not be anywhere near as popular as they are today if they needed to be replaced every few months, this is proved by the fact that rechargeable e-cigs are substantially more popular than disposable ones.
To this end, it is important that the battery used has a long lifetime, and Li-ion batteries have an average lifetime of 2-3 years. This also helps keep the cost down, which is one of the things that makes vaping a desirable alternative to smoking. With a device that can last for 2-3 years, this keeps the price of vaping month on month relatively low, with replacing coils and buying e-juice being the only necessary expenditure after the initial price of the device.
If you have found this information interesting and would like to learn more about Li-ion batteries and battery safety check out our other post ‘Using Lithium Ion Vaping Batteries Safely’.
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