The world we live in today is filled with technology that needs electric power to be able to run properly. The solution to that has been batteries. They have been able to provide a portable system for many devices to be able to run. These days tech devices of every size and shape require some sort of power to be able to run and that’s where lithium-ion come into play, lithium-ion batteries where the forefront of technology almost a decade ago but today lithium-ion have gotten so popular and accessible to everyone on the planet that every piece of tech has been using this technology to power their devices.
But as you know science never stops, a newer and better version of the infamous lithium-ion was developed by scientist and it paved the way for every major technological revolution that we know today.
Lithium polymer was smaller in size and was able to provide much more power than your regular lithium batteries of that size. So today we are going to be discussing lithium-polymer and everything you need to know before you buy one, so without further ado let’s get started.
What Are Lithium Polymer Batteries?
Lithium polymer batteries are just an upgraded version of lithium-ion. The main component that has been changed from lithium-ion and lithium-polymer is that the electrolytes that are in both of these are different. Lithium-ion has a liquid electrolyte, whereas lithium polymer has a polymer electrolyte in them which makes it able to be smaller in size than its earlier version.
The new lithium polymer batteries are made up of superconductors that allowed the batteries to be much smaller than the regular-sized ones but have a much bigger capacity than your regular lithium-ion batteries. This meant that the technology that was limited by the sizes of lithium-ion could use these batteries and gain the same amount of power from a much smaller package.
How Safe Are Lithium-Ion Batteries
Most modern batteries are generally safe if used properly but as you know many conditions come into play when it comes to the safety of the device. In the case of lithium polymer batteries, they are from the family of the lithium-ion and have the same issues as a regular lithium-ion does. This means that lithium polymer is prone to overcharge and over-discharge. Also, over-temperature, crunching, and physical abuse can cause a violent chemical reaction that can cause it to explode.
But most of these problems have already been dealt with by major manufactures and they have changed their hardware features to accommodate the issues of the lithium-ion polymer.
What Do You Need To Consider When Buying A Lithium Polymer Battery?
There are multiple things you need to consider when it comes to buying a lithium polymer battery. So today we will be going over a few things that you have to consider when you are buying a lithium polymer battery.
Voltage
Many companies make Lipo batteries for their consumer and almost every one of those batteries comes in some sort of layer. For example, if you are planning to buy a lithium-polymer battery for your project then the choices you are going to have are going to be more of less a multiple of 3.7 volts. This is because most lithium polymer batteries come in layers and each layer is 3.7 volts which means that if you want an 11-volt battery than it is going to be a 3 layer construction.
Capacity
The next thing that you have to take into account is the capacity of the battery, this is something that you have to consider a lot because the capacity of a battery is going to determine how long of playtime you are going to have when you buy a battery.
The capacity of any battery is measured in milliamps per hour (mAh) and it is directly proportional to the about of time you are going to have. For example, if you have a battery of 4000 mAh than it is going to run twice as long as a battery of 2000 mAh is going to run.
So take this into account when you buy a battery and also remember that the capacity is not everything when it comes to buying a good battery.
Weight
The third thing that you have to consider is the weight of the battery, these batteries may be small, but they are very densely packed and are very heavy compared to the rest of the body. You have to consider the weight of the battery and how it is going to affect your project, you cannot use the biggest battery that you find, because it is going to affect the center of the gravity of your project.
Just make sure to take a look at the weight of the battery in the description to find out if it is going to be any help in your project or it is going to be a waste of resources.
Charge and Discharge
This is something that you have to consider when you are getting a new battery, some projects require fast charging batteries whereas some batteries need high output for short bursts. Now, this is entirely going to matter on your project, we recommend that you use a millimeter to find out the requirement of the system and decide the perfect battery accordingly. Once you have a reading from your millimeter, we recommend that you find a battery that is rated a little bit above from what you need, to make sure that you don’t get into any sort of power deficiency.
Amps
Amps are a major factor when it comes to buying a new cell, this is because amps decide how much power you will be able to send to your instruments. There are many different types of instruments out there and each one of them has a specific amp requirement and you need to match it to be able to run it properly.
For more information about these batteries, you can just head on to https://www.large.net/liPo-battery-guide/ to know a little bit more about the battery layers, its voltages, and usage.
