The Nickel-based Batteries Part 1

11 October 2014

The Nickel-based Batteries Part 1

Batteries help to power the portable devices, and they need to be powerful enough in order to allow you to operate your devices without worrying about the battery draining. There are various types of batteries on the market, and the Nickel-based batteries stand to be among the top performing batteries. Here is a guide on the batteries that contain Nickel.

Introduction

These batteries have been categorized into 2 types. They include the following;
• Nickel-Cadmium – NiCd batteries, and
• Nickel-metal-hydride NiMH batteries.
The two battery systems almost share the same characteristics, but the content is what differ slightly.

1. Nickel-cadmium, NiCd Batteries

This type of battery was introduced in 1899 by Waldmar Junger, which proved to work better than the lead-acid batteries. However, the materials needed to make the batteries were very costly, and they were also delimited to use.

Their growth and use was sluggish, until the scientists tried to deposit the dynamic materials in a permeable electrode with nickel plates, later in 1932. In 1947, the gas that was emitted during the charge was attempted to be absorbed. The ability to absorb the generated gas made the batteries to be used more in the recent years.

The NiCd batteries were the best alternative to use in the 2-way radios, power tools, executive video cameras and medical equipments for emergency treatments. These batteries became more popular around the 80s, whereby, they had a higher capacity of 60%, compared to the normal NiCd.

The Upgrade

In order to come up with the Ultra-high-capacity Nickel-cadmium batteries, more active material was packed into the cell. However, the packing of more active materials led to a shorter cycle and a higher internal conflict.
Despite the upgrade, the typical NiCd is still among the most robust and lenient batteries that require extra care in order to extend its durability. Most of the engineers choose to use these batteries because of their performance.

Advantages Of The NiCd Batteries 

• They charge faster and easily. It is simple and faster to charge these batteries, even if you have stored them for a long time.
• They offer charge/discharge cycles of up to 1000, if they are well maintained.
• They also have a long shelf life and they can be stored when they are discharged.
• They have a high performance.
• They can perform well in low temperatures.
• They are easily stored and transported, and they are not under the regulatory control requirements.
• They are cheap and economical, and they come in various sizes and options of performance.

Disadvantages of the NiCd

• They have a lower energy supply, in comparison to the contemporary batteries.
• You will be required to recharge them constantly when you need to use them since they are self-discharging.
• They contain toxic metals, which is harmful to the environment.
• You will need to discharge them periodically since they have memory effects.