The Future of Batteries: A Deep Dive into Lithium-Ion Capacitors
As we gaze at the key advantages of supercapacitors, it becomes clear that they offer a unique set of benefits. For instance, one can create a battery pack using supercaps and solder them in series to achieve high current discharge or spot welding metals permanently together. The power input/output capabilities of these supercaps are unmatched, allowing for quick discharge and rapid charging.
This is particularly important when considering the limitations of traditional batteries like NiMH, Li-Ion, and LiPo. These batteries can't compete safely with supercaps in terms of handling huge current spikes. Therefore, it's tempting to say that supercaps are the future of batteries. However, there's a catch - their energy storage capacity is about 30 times less than what a common AA battery can hold.
That doesn't mean they're useless, but their application as batteries is limited. To overcome this limitation, scientists have developed a new kind of supercap called Lithium-Ion Capacitor (LIC). These capacitors are designed to store more energy while maintaining a smaller size and increased safety features.
I recently got my hands on three LICs and will be putting them through a series of tests to determine their advantages and whether they'll replace traditional batteries. In this video, I'll explore the composition of LICs, which are hybrid capacitors combining the benefits of both energy storage devices - supercapacitors and lithium-ion batteries.
To understand why LICs are precharged with a voltage of around 3.5V, we need to delve into their structure. The cathode in LICs is similar to that in conventional supercapacitors, while the anode is identical to that found in lithium-ion batteries. This combination should theoretically offer improved performance.
However, it's essential to examine the data and results from tests conducted on these devices. My LICs feature an internal resistance of 100mΩ to 50mΩ, which allows for rapid charging and discharging without significant loss of capacitance. During a power input/output test, I deliberately ignored warnings concerning maximum currents and was pleased to find that my LICs performed flawlessly.
In certain applications, LICs can be used as buffers in energy systems where quick charge/discharge actions take place. They could also be suitable for devices requiring stable voltage or those operating on low power for extended periods like IoT devices.
Moreover, LICs offer several advantages over traditional batteries, including a lower self-discharge rate and the ability to be charged and discharged thousands of times without losing capacity. However, they do come with a hefty price tag, which might be a barrier for some users.
In conclusion, my experience with Lithium-Ion Capacitors has been mixed. On one hand, they improve supercapacitor technology significantly. On the other hand, implementing over-discharge protection for such high current energy sources will be annoying.
What do you think about LICs? Let me know in the comment section below. If you enjoyed this video and want to see more content, consider supporting me through Patreon. Don't forget to like, share, subscribe, and hit the notification bell.
WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enWhat you just saw is one of the key advantagesof supercapacitors and in case you are wonderingsupercapacitors look like this and I simplysoldered a couple of them in series in orderto create kind of like a battery pack thatcan be used in an uncontrolled way to meltmetals or in a controlled way to spot weldmetals permanently together.The advantage I am referring to here is ofcourse the power input/output capabilitiesof such supercaps meaning I can dischargethem through a huge current in a matter ofseconds and I can also charge them up veryquickly.Other more traditional batteries like NiMH,Li-Ion or LiPo can certainly not compete safelyin that regard.So that should mean supercaps are the batteriesof the future, right?I mean they should be able to eliminate thelong charge time of electric vehicles forexample.Well, sadly so far they are not super batteriesbecause the energy this one supercap can holdis about 30 times less than what this commonAA battery can hold.That doesn't mean they are useless thoughbut their application as batteries is certainlylimited.And that is why I was super excited to findout that there is a new kind of supercap onthe market called Lithium-Ion capacitor.And needless to say I got myself three ofthem and in this video I will put them througha bunch of tests in order to find out whatadvantages they come with and whether theywill replace traditional batteries.Let's get started!This video is sponsored by Skillshare whichis an online learning community with thousandsof inspiring and useful classes.In case you don't know then let me tell youthat I am constantly working on new projectsand as luck would have it I recently had toget involved with a bit of Python programmingwhich I am not very good at.But that is a perfect example of why I joinedSkillshare because they have classes on tonsof different topics including beginner coursesfor Python.Especially the course Python 3: Programmingin Python for Beginners by Arkadiusz Wlodarczykwas a great introduction to the topic andyou can test this ad free educational journeyout as well by clicking the link in the videodescription.Because the first 1000 subscribers of minewho do so will get a 1 month free trial ofSkillshare.So why not give it a shot?First off let me tell you that I was a bitmad and confused about the excessive packagingthe new supercaps came in.But after browsing through their datasheetwhich I highly recommend you to check outif you are interested in all the details,it did make sense that each one got its ownlittle plastic enclosure with the leads beingphysically separated.This is by the way a big difference to thepackaging of other capacitors and the reasonis simply that these Lithium-Ion Capacitorsor LICs which will be the abbreviation I willbe using from now one are pre charged to avoltage of around 3.5V.That of course means that when the terminalstouch a big short circuit current will flowand that is something the manufacturer doesnot want but we will try that out later.But I am getting ahead of myself because beforethat we need to find out why exactly LICsare precharged.And for that we simply have to learn aboutthe composition of LICs which are a type ofsupercapacitor called hybrid capacitor.And hybrid explains their structure prettywell because while their cathode is the sameas in a normal supercapacitor, their anodeis the same as in lithium-ion batteries.So in theory that should combine all the advantagesof both energy storage devices but sadly alsopartly their disadvantages.You see discharging Li-Ion batteries underneath3V is always a no go because underneath thisvoltage chemical processes take place thatreduce the capacity of the battery overtimewhich means it can not hold that much energyany more.That is also why there exist tons of circuitsthat prevent such an over discharge.Now LICs have a similar problem at a thresholdvalue of 2.2V.But then again due to the Li-Ion technologytheir voltage limit is at 3.8V instead ofthe common 2.7V for normal supercapacitors.And since the voltage limit directly determineshow much energy a capacitor can store, theLICs should be capable of storing more, right?To properly determine that I chose a 100Fcapacitor of both types and calculated theenergy they could store while keeping in mindthat the range for the super one is from 0to 2.7V and the LIC one from 2.2 to 3.8V.And with those results alone we can alreadysee that the LIC stores slightly more whilebeing a bit smaller in size.But to properly compare the capacitors tothe traditional batteries, I next had to determinetheir weight and volume to calculate theirgravimetric and volumetric energy densityand here you can clearly see that the LICshave the advantage with a doubled value forthe Wh per L value.But then again if we include those valuesinto the traditional batteries graph thatI created during a previous video, we cansee that even the newer capacitor technologystands no chance against the more common batteries.And that basically means LICs will not bebattery replacements but they can work wonderfullytogether, let me explain in the next experiments.According to the datasheet my LICs featurean internal resistance of 100mΩ to 50mΩwhich once again means you can charge themup super quickly and you can also dischargethem quite aggressively.By the way during this power input/outputtest I purposely ignored all the warningsgiven by the manufacturer concerning max currentsand such because I wanted to find out whetherthe LICs can take a beating while workingflawlessly.And after doing 5 rounds of discharging thecap down to 2.2V and charging it up again,it was pretty clear that this technology cannot only output big current spikes but italso didn't loose any capacitance while doingso and it only heated up slightly during thewhole process which were all positive results.That means LICs could work well together withbatteries as buffers in energy systems inwhich quick charge/discharge actions takeplace like maybe in an electric vehicle duringregenerative breaking or in an uninterruptiblepower supply with big current breakdowns.But if you however want to use LICs as thesole energy source then I can only recommendthem for the following applications:Firstly for devices that need to create astable voltage through comparable low inputpower.Secondly for very low power devices that shouldrun for years like IOT devices because LICsnot only feature a low self discharge in comparisonto normal supercapacitors but they can alsobe charged up and discharged thousands oftime without losing capacity which is a bigplus in comparison to other batteries.And lastly for devices in a very harsh environmenteither temperature wise or safety wise becauseeven though LICs can input and output powervery quickly, they are a lot safer to handlethan other lithium based batteries as youcan see here.If your device fits one of those criteriathen then the LIC is for you …...assumingyou can swallow the huge price point at themoment which once again compared to the otherbatteries is huge.But anyway my final verdict for Lithium-Ioncapacitors is mixed because on one hand theydo improve the supercapacitor technology quitea bit but then again implementing an overdischarge protection for such a high currentenergy source will be super annoying.But what do you think?Let me know in the comment section below.With that being said, If you enjoyed the videoand want to see more then consider supportingme through Patreon.As always don't forget to like, share, subscribeand hit the notification bell.Stay creative and I will see you next time.
