Lithium batteries are on fire! Hottest thing in technology! (Hint: Start with the safety and care rules)
Wikipedia has a great article, I read it twice, especially the safety warnings (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_ion_battery).
The limited shelflife of the lithium ion cell and the support circuits necessary and mostly built into the package were new for me. Three of the six dollar store packs I have were dead on arrival. That no voltage was available out of the package was the earliest sign that they were expired.
This very detailed oovernment sponsored article (http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/JOM/0809/daniel-0809.html), gives the best summary of current development issues, made it clearer for me:
“There is no doubt that lithium-ion cell chemistries offer some of the best options for electrical energy storage for high-power and high-energy applications such as transportation and stationary storage due to their electrochemical potential, theoretical capacity, and energy density. However, the estimated battery cost for the example HEV application is still twice the price target established by the USABC and DOE. With rising oil prices, a slightly higher price than the target might already receive enough consumer acceptance for a successful introduction into the market. However, the price still has to come down.
“There are clearly needs in the areas of materials development, optimization, and processing. The calculations above separate between materials and labor costs. However, it is nearly impossible to separate raw material costs from material processing costs because we never use pure raw materials in the process; rather, we use material compounds that are suitable for the application and that are the least expensive in production. Additionally, even raw materials and material compounds have been processed. Thus, new low-cost processing methods for those materials and compounds have to be developed in order to minimize the battery’s “raw material” cost.
“Work is needed on hybrid technologies such as combining low-cost slurry-based techniques with treatment methods to replace tasks that are currently performed in two different steps. High-speed treatments, such as radiant processing, need to be optimized to replace slow furnace procedures. Investment costs and manufacturing times need to be minimized to make them feasible for battery applications. In addition, hybrid materials that can perform the functions of two or more components currently in use need to be developed and integrated into batteries (e.g., solid or high-viscosity electrolytes that do not need separators, have enhanced lithium exchange behavior, wet the electrode, and form a good bond).”
I’ve got three good packs out of 6 purchased at a dollar store. Next, I promise to provide photographic e vidence of their existance, a take-apart series, and some info on metter readings from a cellphone charger hookup, battery use with LEDs, and discharge from just sitting around idle. Come back with safety glasses and gloves on!
It's Not Working 