Lithium-Ion Vs Lithium-Polymer: What’s the Difference?

In this article, we‘re going to show you the difference between Lithium-ion and Lithium polymer. There has been an endless war between Li-ion and Li-po and which battery is better. Both of them are used to power electronic devices such as smartphones and power banks. we‘re going to give you all the information to settle this battle between these two very popular battery’s.

What are the uses of Lithium-Ion and Lithium Polymer

There are many uses of lithium batteries and I’m going to list a few. You may even go about your day to day life without realising you’re using a lithium battery. You’re probably using a battery right now. Yes, that right, they are used in smartphones. These batteries are placed in the back of your phone and you probably have no access to them because smartphone companies these days make it hard to access the battery without using some sort of tool.

Another very popular use for Li-ion and li-pol batteries is power banks or battery packs depending on what you call them. Power banks are basically big batteries with a nice design on the outside and a couple of input and output sockets that allow you to charge multiple devices such as camera and phones. Without ion and polymer batteries, there wouldn’t be any way to charge your device while you’re travelling.

Another very popular use of lithium batteries is for miscellaneous devices. This includes things such as clocks, MP3 players, remote car locks, hearing aids, and calculators. These are a small variety of devices that use a lithium battery to power them. Here are more uses of lithium polymer and lithium ion batteries.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Lithium-Ion Batteries

There are plenty of advantages and disadvantages of li-ion batteries but I’m going to list a few of the main ones you need to know about.

Self-Discharge – pro

Standard cell batteries are known for losing charge over time, but lithium-ion batteries can retain their charge for a very long time. This is because their self-discharge rate is a lot lower than standard cell batteries that lose their charge within a month whereas li-ion can last over a year.

High Energy Density – pro

Lithium-ion batteries have a high energy density. This means they can give out a high amount of energy to a device even when the device needs the energy to stay on. Smartphones need to operate while they are being charged and lithium-ion batteries are great for this because they can continue to give a device charge while that device is using up energy.

Protection Required – con

These batteries require a lot of protection to ensure that they are safe enough to use. They require a lot of circuity protection just so nothing can go easily go wrongs and they are a lot less robust compared to other battery technologies.

Ageing – con

Another major disadvantage of lithium-ion batteries is how fast they age. The rate of ageing depends on the quality of the battery. The more discharge cycles the battery has gone through, the more aged the battery is going to be.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Lithium Polymer Batteries

Good Safety – pro

An advantage of Lithium polymer batteries is that they have a flexible aluminium casing which is different from some other batteries that only have a liquid metal case which doesn’t ensure good safety. When a hazard occurs, batteries that only have a liquid casing will be more susceptible to explosions compared to ones with an aluminium casing.

Customised Shape – pro

Manufacturers of lithium polymer batteries aren’t restricted to one shape. Polymer batteries can easily increase and decrease in size which means their shape isn’t going to change much. If you are looking to buy a lithium polymer battery from a wholesale manufacturer, you can easily request the size and shape of this battery to suit your situation.

Overheating Issues – con

The most popular disadvantage regarding lithium polymer batteries is the problems it has regarding overheating. The way you store the battery can lead to complications. If you leave them in a hot place, this can damage the battery. For example, if you charge a power bank made with lithium polymer, this can cause to overheat which may lead to a fire. If the power bank isn’t fitted with over-heating protective features, this can lead to serious accidents.

What’s the Difference between Lithium-Ion & Lithium Polymer Batteries?

Lithium-ion batteries are made of different compartments which all generate power. Each compartment (cell) is made up of a positive electrode, a negative electrode, and an electrolyte in-between each cell. When the battery is charging, the positive electrode loses some of its lithium ions which travel through the electrode and down to the negative electrode. When the battery is discharging, the same process happens but in the opposite way.

The biggest difference between these two types of batteries is the type of electrolyte they use between the positive and negative electrodes. Lithium polymer batteries are basically a rechargeable version of lithium-ion but rather than having a liquid electrolyte, they use a polymer electrolyte. Lithium polymer batteries compared to lithium-ion have 2 different common forms.

The first one is like a gel and the second one is a dry solid. The soft gel-like electrolyte is very popular among manufacturers because it allows them to shape the battery in the shape of the device they’re using the battery for. Li-ion can also be put in a flexible casing so that it is flexible and can be squeezed into an electronic device.

Which ones Better?

In our opinion, Lithium polymer batteries have a slight advantage compared to Li-ion batteries purely because of the flexibility and versatility they have due to the gel, this makes it easier to put into devices such as phones. However, they don’t have the same amount of energy density compared to the Li-ion. Li-ion is also cheaper than Li-Po batteries, and they also have a longer lifespan compared to Li-polymer batteries.

Comment down your favourite battery and which one you’ve had a better experience with.