To: Nancy Meyers

From: Alex Michel, Stephen Shaw, Joseph Tobler

Date: March 8, 2022
Subject: APLED 121- Outline for Rechargeable Lithium Batteries

Introduction- Alex (0:56)

 Teammates are introduced
 Introduce what objectives will be covered
o What it is
o How it works
o video
o Pros/cons

Objects in common- Alex (0:28)

 Tesla
 Phone
 Ps5 controller
 Rc car
 Power drill
 Solar panels

Other types of lithium batteries- Alex (0:23)

 Lithium Iron Phosphate
 Lithium Cobalt Oxide
 Lithium Manganese Oxide
 Lithium Nickel Phosphate
 Lithium Aluminum
 Lithium Titanate

What is a lithium battery? – Alex (0:30)

 It is a battery
 Composed from layers of porous electrodes on aluminum and copper foils

How a lithium battery works- Joseph (0:56)

 Demonstration
 A battery is made up of an anode, cathode, separator, electrolyte, and two current collectors
(positive and negative). The anode and cathode store the lithium. The electrolyte carries
positively charged lithium ions from the anode to the cathode and vice versa through the
separator. The movement of the lithium ions creates free electrons in the anode which
creates a charge at the positive current collector.  The electrical current then flows from the
current collector through a device being powered (cell phone, computer, etc.) to the negative
current collector. The separator blocks the flow of electrons inside the battery.
Video of how it works- Joseph (2:49)
 Introduce the video
 Play video included

Advantages of a lithium battery- Joseph (1:34)

 Much higher density than other batteries, meaning they get up to a 150-watt hours per kg
 Lower discharge rate, only using 5% of their charge a month
Quick charging
 Doesn’t contain toxic cadmium, makes them easier to dispose of than Ni-Cd batteries.
 Component doesn’t have to be primed (explain what priming is)

Challenges of using a lithium battery- Stephen (1:14)

 Has a thermal runaway problem resulting in potential fire
 Lithium-Ion batteries cost more to make, roughly 40%
 Lithium batteries have limiting safety mechanisms for reducing internal pressure and voltage,
limiting performance
 Batteries naturally degrade upon the number of charge and discharge cycles.

Conclusion- Stephen (0:52)

 Summarize what and how a lithium battery works
 Summarize pros and cons of lithium batteries
 Thank class and ask if there’s any questions