Welcome Stranger to OCC!Login | Register  Nickel Improves and
Hurts Battery Performance  Category: Science & Technology
Posted: October 2, 2012 07:10PM Author: Guest_Jim_*  The
batteries that power our devices are largely based on lithium-
ions because of their potency. Not all lithium-ion batteries are
equal though as different internal designs and materials affect
their performance, and one of those materials is nickel. Nickel
has the ability to improve the energy density of a battery but
also can impair its long-term performance, and researchers at
the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Berkeley Lab have
discovered why.  Within a battery, ions move around and their
placement determines how much energy is being stored. The more
easily the ions can move, and more places they can connect to
the electrodes, the better the battery will perform. It turns
out though that the nickel in lithium-ion batteries can prevent
the movement of the ions by clumping together in solid blocks in
the ions' channels. This