Hacker News Reader

I'm actually pretty curious about what causes battery wear at a fundamental level. Presumably, traditional LI batteries are not "leaking" Lithium. So why does their electron-storage-potential decrease with time?

View on HN

Here is a good, basic description: http://gizmodo.com/5681005/giz-explains-why-batteries-die

Basically, batteries are chemical reactions. Even though the reaction can be run in reverse (to recharge), no reaction is 100% efficient. Charging and discharging corrodes the anode/cathode and alters the structure. This makes them less capable of accepting ions. The electrolytes oxidize and decompose as well.

There is a neat trick where you can zap an old lithium-ion battery with an electric welder, it does something to the old chunky crystals or something like that.

This is with Nicad batteries. DO NOT attempt to zap a lithium ion battery unless you have a blast shield etc.

Ah yes I see now, my bad. It pays to Google first I guess.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com