Lithium-ion batteries

Lithium-ion batteries can be a fire or explosion hazard as they contain flammable electrolytes. Progress has been made in the development and manufacturing of safer lithium-ion batteries. Lithium-ion solid-state batteries are being developed to eliminate the flammable electrolyte. Lithium and other minerals can have significant issues in mining, with lithium being water intensive in often arid regions and other minerals used in some Li-ion chemistries potentially being conflict minerals such as cobalt. Environmental issues have encouraged some researchers to improve mineral efficiency and find alternatives such as lithium iron phosphate lithium-ion chemistries or non-lithium-based battery chemistries such as sodium-ion and iron-air batteries.