There’s enough risk involved in selling your engineered application without having to worry about safety issues arising in your battery. Your customers want to purchase a product with a reliable, stable power source. Unfortunately, lead acid batteries may not be the safest option.
Customers aren’t always aware of lead acid’s strict maintenance requirements and might use your product without enough thought given to safeguarding the battery. Overcharging and over-discharging a lead acid battery causes damage that may lead to fires or other hazardous consequences, so you need a battery solution that’s resistant to this type of damage.
LiFePO4 technology is widely regarded as one of the safest ways to power a battery-operated application. Safety devices such as fuses, thermal switches, heat sinks and diodes found in most lithium batteries prevent overheating and dangerous fires. LiFePO4 goes the extra mile with a lower voltage per cell, keeping your battery even cooler.
In addition to carrying reliable lithium-ion batteries, your battery provider should offer the safest lithium technology: LiFePO4. Consider the following three LiFePO4 features that help your customers avoid overheating accidents:
1. Reduced Risk Of Phosphate Decomposition
Thermal and chemical stability improve the safety of LiFePO4 technology. LiFePO4 is unlikely to undergo phosphate decomposition, a process that releases oxygen from the cell structure. Phosphate decomposition would only occur in your LiFePO4 battery under extremely high temperatures (usually more than 800 degrees Celsius).
If customers use your applications in hot environments, a LiFePO4 battery is the safest solution. Your battery has a minimized risk of combustion because it remains stable in harsh conditions.
2. Structural Stability After Lithium Removal
The structural integrity of your battery is an important factor in battery safety. When you remove lithium from lithiated cobalt oxide, the cells expand, making the compound more dangerous. However, removing all the lithium from a LiFePO4 battery causes no structural changes.
In fact, LiFePO4 keeps the same structure whether it’s in a lithiated or delithiated phase. This demonstrates LiFePO4’s ability to remain structurally sound and stable even if the battery is damaged.
3. Resistance To Oxygen Loss
LiFePO4’s cathode material is intrinsically safe. The material is highly resistant to oxygen loss, which would cause a battery explosion under extreme heat. The scientific reason for this protection is that the oxygen is covalently bonded to non-transition metal within the battery, preventing oxygen from leaving the structure even after overheating.
LiFePO4’s automated manufacturing processes prevent flaws from occurring in your battery and putting your customers at risk. However, with so many battery providers creating their own products, you must be careful to choose a trustworthy manufacturer. As you search for the right provider, schedule a battery consultation to learn more about its manufacturing techniques.
If a provider only offers a handful of lithium battery options, or it’s unable to provide clear information about how its batteries are made, it likely doesn’t have the infrastructure to adapt to your specific safety needs. The right manufacturer has an extensive, high-quality inventory including LiFePO4 technology to keep your customers safe even in extreme temperature conditions.
Ready to learn more about why lithium is the right choice for your application? Explore how lithium batteries improve your product performance.