Lithium AA Batteries Vs Alkaline
The world is experiencing an amazing explosive growth in the number of innovations and manufactured products aimed at improving experience, quality and life comfort. Wearable devices, remote control devices, dynamic motion mechanical equipment, electric tools, energy storage systems, emergency power supplies, UAVs, the Internet of Things, smart home devices and other products, as well as medical devices that need electricity. They all need reliable batteries to power them, so that they can provide the expected experience and improve the quality of life. When you consider purchasing these products, you want to get experience, quality and comfort from them. The same is true when we buy or use batteries. We know that we use lithium batteries and alkaline batteries in our daily life, but do you know which is better? Now let’s have a look with the PLB editor of lithium battery manufacturer!
Which is better, lithium battery or alkaline battery?
- Lithium battery and alkaline battery have different materials
Chemistry, performance, cost and safety are the key factors to distinguish lithium battery from alkaline battery. The materials used to develop batteries and the methods used to manufacture them are also a key distinguishing feature.
The chemical design of alkaline battery depends on zinc (Zn) and manganese dioxide (MnO2) as cathode and anode respectively, and alkaline rather than acid electrolyte; Potassium hydroxide (KOH). They derive energy from the reaction between Zn and MnO2.
On the other hand, the design chemistry of lithium batteries depends on lithium metal. Batteries may have different types of cathode and electrolyte, but they all use lithium metal as anode. Lithium cobalt (LiCoO2), lithium titanate (Li2TiO3), lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4), lithium manganese oxide (LiMn2O4), lithium nickel cobalt aluminum oxide (LiNixCoyAlzO2) and lithium nickel manganese cobalt nickel oxide lithium (LiFePO4) existing lithium batteries.
Lithium titanate and lithium iron phosphate have very impressive rechargeable characteristics. Their charging efficiency is about 90%, and their cycle durability (100% discharge cycle depth) is about 10000 to 90% capacity and about 12000 to 80% capacity respectively.
Lithium iron phosphate battery, also known as LFP battery, is the safest type of lithium battery on the market. These batteries are designed to provide a small size product with beautiful appearance, light weight but high energy density.
Lithium iron phosphate batteries provide high power battery performance comparable to many lithium ion applications. These batteries provide more power and have a longer service life than other batteries that you may find in the market.
- Lithium battery is lighter than alkaline battery
Lithium batteries are much lighter than alkaline batteries. This feature provides them with advantages in the application of portable devices such as cordless power tools, wearable devices and cordless medical diagnostic tools. Their service life is also longer, which makes them widely used in high-tech intelligent devices and electronic devices that are inconvenient to replace batteries. - Lithium battery environmental protection
Although alkaline batteries have higher energy density, longer service life and longer shelf life than other types of batteries, they are prone to leakage involving potassium hydroxide. Potassium hydroxide is a corrosive reagent, which can cause respiratory tract, eye and skin irritation. The leakage of potassium hydroxide in the alkaline battery will also expose the small tools using the battery to the risk of permanent circuit damage, because the leaked potassium hydroxide will form potassium carbonate when absorbing carbon dioxide in the air.
Alkaline battery is a primary battery, that is, a disposable battery. It cannot be charged easily after use once, and it will be discarded after full discharge. Therefore, once they are completely discharged, they must be replaced. This replacement demand has increased the demand for batteries, which in turn has led to the entry of many manufacturers. This has led to an increase in counterfeit alkaline batteries on the market.
The counterfeit battery has a similar appearance to the brand alkaline battery, but does not match the performance, efficiency and leak proof function of the brand product, thus deliberately misleading consumers. This increases the risk of alkaline batteries to people’s health and safety. - Lithium battery is more durable than alkaline battery
One of the main advantages of lithium battery compared with alkaline battery is that the service life of lithium battery is longer. On the other hand, lithium equivalents are secondary batteries, which means that they can be charged to their original pre discharge state when discharging. This is achieved by passing current through their circuits in the opposite direction to the current during discharge.
- Low temperature performance of lithium battery is better than alkaline battery
Lithium batteries can work even at the most extreme temperatures, making them very suitable for outdoor equipment. Lithium battery works in extremely cold climate or extremely hot climate, and alkaline battery stops working. The advantage of alkaline batteries is that their chemical properties enable them to power daily necessities such as alarm clocks. However, these batteries perform very poorly in cold weather. This is because they are designed with water-based electrolytes. The extremely cold temperature will reduce the ionic mobility in them. As a result, the chemical reaction in them will slow down, and ultimately reduce their ability to provide the required electric battery power.
On the other hand, lithium batteries can withstand extremely low temperatures, so they can operate normally in very cold climates without failure. This makes them very suitable for outdoor equipment applications. Therefore, you can trust them to provide the battery power you need to experience using the gadget that needs power, without being limited by climate change. Therefore, when alkaline batteries are preferred but their performance is negatively affected by extreme cold weather, lithium batteries can be used as high-performance alternatives to standard alkaline batteries.
The above lithium battery and alkaline battery will be introduced here. I believe that through the above introduction, you should have a better understanding of which is better.