Battery technology today...

Since the introduction onto the world markets of the Li-ion battery in the early/mid 1990s, there have been no dramatic developments in battery technology, although research on the fuel cell (with particular emphasis on its use in motor vehicles) has been the centre of attention during the past few years. Other interesting future developments are concerned with the proposal to alter the power source in motor vehicles to 42 V, the introduction of the lithium-polymer battery for mobile radios and telephones, and the demise of the nickelcadmium (NiCd) battery.Secondary lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries were introduced commercially in the early 1990s (Ref. 1). A detailed report on their properties, applications, and suitable chargers may be found in Ref. 4. Since then, their use has increased greatly, particularly in laptop and palmtop computers and camcorders. World production grew from 140 million in 1996 to 385 million in 1999. This kind of growth, however, is not experienced in the mobile telephone markets.