How many times is the life cycle of a ternary lithium battery?

With more attention going into energy conservation and environmental protection, more and more environmentally friendly products have been coming into the market. In the battery industry, ternary lithium batteries with its many advantages have come to gradually replace traditional lead-acid batteries. Some benefits of ternary lithium batteries include but are not limited to long cycle life, good environmental protection, low maintenance costs, and light weight.  We will explore some of these benefits in this article with particular attention to the cycle of life.

What is a ternary lithium battery?

Lithium is the lightest metal with the smallest atomic mass. Its atomic weight is 6.94g/mol and ρ=0.53g/cm3. Lithium is chemically active and easily loses electrons and is oxidized to Li+. Therefore, the standard electrode potential is the most negative, -3.045V, and the electrochemical equivalent is the smallest, 0.26g/Ah. These characteristics allow for high specific energy. A ternary lithium battery is a kind of lithium-ion rechargeable battery, and it refers to a lithium secondary battery that uses three transition metal oxides of nickel-cobalt-manganese as the cathode material. It fully integrates the good cycling performance of lithium cobaltate, the high specific capacity of lithium nickelate, and the good safety and low cost of lithium manganate. The battery is a synthesis of nickel-cobalt-manganese and other multi-element synergistic lithium-embedded oxide by molecular level mixing, coating, and surface modification methods.

The life of ternary lithium battery

One cycle life of a lithium battery is generally calculated as one full charge and discharge. Over use, an irreversible electrochemical reaction occurs inside the lithium battery, which leads to a decrease in capacity, such as the decomposition of the electrolyte, the deactivation of active materials, the collapse of the positive and negative structures, and the reduction in the number of lithium ions inserted and extracted. Experiments have shown that a higher discharge rate will lead to a faster attenuation of capacity. If the discharge current is lower, the battery voltage will be close to the equilibrium voltage and more energy can be released.

Life of ternary lithium battery (Source: Grepow)

The theoretical life of a ternary lithium battery is about 800 cycles, which is standard among commercially rechargeable lithium batteries. Lithium iron phosphate’s cycle life has about 2,000 cycles while lithium titanate is said to reach 10,000 cycles. At present, large battery manufacturers promise more than 500 cycles (with charge and discharge under standard conditions) in the specifications of their ternary battery cells. Manufacturers recommend that the SOC use window is 10% to 90%. Deep charging and discharging are not recommended; otherwise, it will cause irreversible damage to the positive and negative structure of the battery. With shallow charging and discharging, the cycle life will come to have at least 1000 cycles. In addition, if the lithium battery is often discharged under high C-rate and in a high-temperature environment, the battery life will be greatly reduced to less than 200 cycles.

Grepow is one of the world’s top battery manufacturers.  Having been founded in 1998, it has over 20 years of experience in battery manufacturing. There are currently 3 self-owned brands: 格氏 ACE, Gens ace, and Tattu. Grepow has long been manufacturing battery packs, ternary lithium batteries, lithium polymer batteries, lithium iron phosphate batteries, and so on. Its products have a wide range of applications. If you are interested in our products, please don't hesitate to contact us at any time! Email: info@grepow.com Grepow Website: https://www.grepow.com/