Lithium Polymer (Li-Pol)

A Lithium polymer is technically a lithium-ion polymer battery. It is very similar to the lithium ion battery but without some of the shortcomings. It can sustain a significant amount of abuse. For example a fully charged Lithium Polymer battery can be punctured with a nail without explosion or fire. It originally used a plastic anode material and SPE (Solid Polymer Electrolyte) as the electrolyte. This comparatively new technology is rapidly evolving and improving. Currently we use a gelled electrolyte and separator. The data below is based on the current technology at the time of publication.

Lithium-Polymer Principles of Operation

The lithium-polymer electrochemistry currently covers a wide range of active materials such as LiCoO2, LiNiO2, and its Co doped derivatives. Harding uses LiCoO2 chemistry. Rather than the traditional metal can used by other small rechargeable cells, Lithium Polymer Batteries employ a thin (110 μm), polymer-based packaging material to contain the electrochemical materials. This allows the system to have a flat thin (2 to 5 mm) form factor. It is also possible to make the footprint of the cell large (e.g. 70mm by 100mm), this being ideally suited to handheld devices such as PDA’s. Since the case of the cell starts as a sheet of polymer-laminate, changing the footprint of the cell is cost effective. Also, if the Lithium Polymer cell uses a 'stacked' construction, adjusting the electrode/electrolyte structure is also easy. In this way, Lithium Polymer cells exhibit flexibility in their mechanical properties and flexibility in their construction.