LMR vs. IMR

Why is the naming scheme this way? Should it not be L M R rather than I M R? I mean, IMR batteries are Lithium Manganese right? So where did that I (eye) come from? Translation lost when lower case l (eLL) was used at some point? I try and be as pedantic as possible when dealing with technical terms to prevent misunderstanding and this LMR/IMR thing is really tweaking my OCD.

ICR - lithium cobalt
IMR - lithium manganese

I don't know why they use I. Perhaps to avoid the I vs. l confusion.

Here is the rundown.

First letter just refers to the battery type.

I = Lithium ion rechargeable battery. I suppose maybe the I stands for Ion? Because if they just used L, what would separate these from Lithium primaries?

Second letter refers to the cathode material.

C = Cobalt

M = Manganese

N = Nickel

F = The element "Fe" which is Iron.

Last letter:

R = Round cell.

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There are different ways to abbreviate cells. Like LMR probably just stands for Lithium Manganese Rechargeable. LiCo just stand for Lithium Cobalt. LFP stands for Lifepo4.

If you're interested, you can search for the IEC 61960 Ed 2 (published 2011) paper which lists out all the standards for secondary lithium cells. Unfortunately, it's not free.

But basically, "I" is for Lithium Ion, "L" would be for Lithium metal and alloys

Then there are those holdout Hillbillies, like myself, that refer to the various chemistries as "LiCo", "LiFe", and "LiMn" (not to be confused with "LiMN" which is manganese/nickel).

For the record, I'm actually a Buckeye, who is half Hillbilly, and half Hoosier.

Dave

Thanks, I can quit worrying now and type IMR with no regrets. I'll just pretend there is a silent L in front of the thing and be happy.