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Lithium batteries
The variety of lithium batteries available means they are common in both consumer products and devices used by qualified engineers.
Lithium batteries can produce voltages of between 1.5 and 3.7 volts, which is around twice that produced by alkaline batteries or zinc carbon batteries. Some of the varieties of lithium batteries suitable for consumers include:
These are used in a wide variety of low discharge, long-life devices, such as wireless alarm systems.
Uses of lithium batteries
From watches to pacemakers, lithium batteries are used in a diverse range of devices. Button batteries will often have a code on them which will show whether they contain lithium or are composed of other material.
Most commercial lithium batteries use a combination of lithium and manganese dioxide. These have some advantages over alternative make-ups, including:
- Materials are inexpensive.
- Long service life.
- Low chance of overheating.
Lithium batteries are most commonly found in portable electronic devices, such as PDAs, calculators and remote car locks. They can also be used as backup batteries in computers. Digital camera batteries, which need to cope with high current demands, are also often made using lithium.
Other batteries include lead acid batteries, gel batteries and lithium ion batteries, but these are used in applications when lithium batteries would not be suitable.
Battery brands
Most commercial battery manufacturers will produce both lithium and non-lithium batteries. Some of the leading products include:
- Duracell batteries.
- Panasonic batteries.
- Energizer batteries.
- Eveready batteries.
- Toshiba batteries.
While Toshiba specialise in producing lithium laptop batteries, the rest of these companies manufacture lithium batteries for a wide range of commercial purposes.
Lithium batteries can be used in a selection of devices. However, like all batteries they need to be handled correctly to avoid damaging them.
