The nickel–lithium battery, also known as Ni–Li, is a
battery using a
nickel hydroxide cathode
A cathode is the electrode from which a conventional current leaves a polarized electrical device. This definition can be recalled by using the mnemonic ''CCD'' for ''Cathode Current Departs''. A conventional current describes the direction in wh ...
and
lithium
Lithium (from el, λίθος, lithos, lit=stone) is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid ...
anode
An anode is an electrode of a polarized electrical device through which conventional current enters the device. This contrasts with a cathode, an electrode of the device through which conventional current leaves the device. A common mnemonic ...
. The two metals cannot normally be used together in a battery, as there are no electrolytes compatible with both. The
LISICON design uses a layer of
porous glass
Porous glass is glass that includes pores, usually in the nanometre- or micrometre-range, commonly prepared by one of the following processes: through metastable phase separation in borosilicate glasses (such as in their system SiO2-B2O3-Na2O), fo ...
to separate two
electrolytes in contact with each metal. The battery is predicted to hold more than twice as much energy per kilogram as
lithium-ion batteries, and to be safer. However, the battery will be complex to manufacture and durability issues have yet to be resolved.
Ni-Li has a very high cell potential, but is limited in capacity by the cathode material.
References
Rechargeable batteries
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