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Announcement: Portable Batteries Becomes Portable Power Explorer's Portable Batteries technology area has transformed to Portable Power. The September 2006 Viewpoints was the last for Portable Batteries. (Portable Power Viewpoints began in October 2006.) A new Portable Power Technology Map is now available, and client access to Portable Power will continue through the Portable Batteries subscription. Please see the September 2006 Viewpoints for additional information about this change. Viewpoints About This Technology Traditionally, battery technology has not been glamorous or dynamic. After Count Alessandro Volta invented the first battery, the world had to wait almost 200 years for the next major breakthrough: the NiCd battery. Even the NiCd discovery occurred more than five decades ago. However, two major forces are accelerating change and propelling battery technology to the forefront. Environmental activists are demanding a replacement for toxic cadmium in NiCd batteries (as they did for the elimination of mercury from alkaline batteries) because NiCd batteries in landfills can cause groundwater contamination. As a result, legislative efforts are under way to prohibit the dumping of the batteries. Manufacturers are responding by introducing recycling programs and rechargeable alternatives. A second factor is the skyrocketing consumer demand for such portable products as notebook computers, camcorders, cellular phones, and personal digital assistants. But for the millions of people toting the devices, the most irritating aspect of the technology is the frequent need to recharge the batteries. Manufacturers can improve batteries' run time but may sacrifice size, cost, environmental friendliness, or performance in the process. Also, with the exploding demand for portable products, manufacturers race to offer lighter models than their competitors can offer. The weights of such subcomponents as microprocessors, memories, and displays have shrunk, leaving batteries as the Achilles' heel. Today's batteries may account for as much as 30% of the weight of a notebook computer and 50% of a cellular phone, making them the single biggest impediment to further weight reduction. Although NiCd batteries' relatively low cost and established use previously guaranteed the technology a dominant market position for portable electronic devices, it has lost ground to competitive battery technologies—specifically NiMH and rechargeable lithium. Whereas NiMH costs more than NiCd, it offers significant improvement in run time and does not contain toxic cadmium. Although also more expensive than NiCd, rechargeable lithium technology offers three times the energy of NiCd but weighs only one-half as much. Researchers are taking a number of approaches to the design of rechargeable lithium batteries for portable consumer products, but the Li-ion cell—that Sony Energytec first introduced in 1991—is enjoying the most commercial success. Unlike other lithium rechargeables, the Li-ion cell eliminates the drawbacks of using metallic lithium, including its tendency to cause internal electrical shorting that causes heating and venting. Another popular rechargeable lithium battery—the lithium-polymer battery—also eliminates the risk of a dangerous reaction by relying on a gel polymer electrolyte. At stake is a world market for secondary batteries that exceeds $7 billion and presents explosive growth prospects as portable devices continue to take hold. |
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