Thomaszwilling

Lithium Metal vs Lithium Ion battery

Pinging you because of your knowledgeable involvement in these articles.

Is it really correct to have the distinction 'Lithium Ion' vs 'Lithium metal' ? The latter still depends fundamentally on the ionization of Lithium atoms and their flow between the electrodes. Isn't the so-called Solid State Lithium Battery a kind of lithium ion battery? For an example of this understanding see this https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2020/cs/d0cs00305k whose abstract begins "All-solid-state lithium ion batteries (ASSLBs) are considered next-generation devices..." or https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41918-019-00048-0 titled 'Solid-State Electrolytes for Lithium-Ion Batteries: Fundamentals, Challenges and Perspectives' or https://spectrum.ieee.org/solidstate-lithiumion-battery-recharges-fire titled 'This Solid-State Lithium-Ion Battery Recharges Fast,...'

Of course, I found other sources that use the same naming convention as WP currently does: Lithium Ion vs Lithium Metal. Eg: https://www.labroots.com/trending/chemistry-and-physics/20448/lithium-metal-batteries-vs-lithium-ion

I'm guessing that some zigs and zags of the history of the development of these batteries led to this situation. Do you know anything about that? It would be nice to at least get something into the articles to clarify this. Leotohill (talk) 03:01, 4 August 2021 (UTC)

@Leotohill: For me there is no question that lithium ion batteries and lithium metal batteries (better: rechargeable lithium metal batteries) are two distinct categories. The question is not whether there are lithium ions carrying the charge between the electrodes through the electrolyte. This is a common feature for both. But in lithium metal batteries, the lithium in the anode is in the metallic form while in lithium ion batteries it stays in the ionic form. A clear description and graphical explanation is still missing in WP. It is not easy to find the relevant literature online. A visit in a knowledgable library might be helpful.

And there is another clear distinction, namely in Transport regulations. I posted the two distinct UN numbers there. For the definitions see the UN Manual of Tests and Criteria under https://unece.org/rev7-files, chapter 38.3.2.3. Thomaszwilling (talk) 07:05, 4 August 2021 (UTC)