Can You Make Your Own Li-Ion Battery?

[GreyShark]

Has anybody tried making their own? Without contracting out to a factory in China I mean.

 

[R@ndom]

Has anybody tried making their own? Without contracting out to a factory in China I mean.

Have fun machining graphite and lithium...

 

[GreyShark]

Maybe it's not that bad then. I know some people who machine graphite pistons for engines. Any other insights on the process?

 

[VidPro]

that minor problem of keeping the lithium for getting oxygen in it , say doing it in a inert gas, or in a vaccume? the metal oxidises very rapidly, lots faster than watching paint dry

 

[GreyShark]

Shielding gas and vacuum chambers are easy. I have already used them for working stainless, aluminum and titanium. Is there a resource anywhere that would show the process of making the battery?

 

[BoarHunter]

Has anybody tried making their own? Without contracting out to a factory in China I mean.

Sure, easy, just mix some lithium and some ION et voila ! :thumbsup:

 

[VidPro]

Shielding gas and vacuum chambers are easy. I have already used them for working stainless, aluminum and titanium. Is there a resource anywhere that would show the process of making the battery?

i donno, but a web search consisting of the words - plates seperator anode cathode and mabey lithium, will get many resources, adding in the word Patent will give you some mix formulas.
http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/6562511/claims.html
like that ???

the best info is secret, but i would suppose that a start would be making a lead acid type battery with solvent based (no water) fluid electolytes and lithium plates and iron plates, then if you get to where that Blows up and kills everyone, you probably have a lot of power then so like all good invention that blow up or overreact, your probably on to something (see fission). if you accidentally make di-lithium crystals , keep them away from the goverments , you know what they will do with them.

 

[MorePower]

I don't see why people are mentioning problems in working with lithium metal. At no point should metallic lithium be present in a standard lithium ion cell. If it is present, that's when you start to get problems (fire, explosion, etc.).

And the answer to your first question is, yes, you can make your own lithium ion cell. You just need to find somewhere willing to sell you the raw anode and cathode materials required.

Will it be safe? No. Is it even remotely a good idea? No. It's not the kind of thing you read about on the internet and then try to figure out through trial and error.

 

[HarryN]

There is quite a bit of technology out there for producing most any battery / cell type, and like anything else, if there is a will, there is a way.

There are a variety of reasons to attempt a DIY solution for anything:
a) price
b) performance
c) personal enlightenment
d) Because it's there

So far, I have found b, c, and d to be valid reasons to do something myself, but (a) has not worked out so well, unless you consider paying "more" one of the goals.

If the goal is just to prove to yourself that it can be done, then that just takes studying the basics and playing with things in some reasonably safe manner. If the goal is to produce equivalent performance to modern commercial cells, then that might take looking at what is published in the literature. To go beyond what is out there, then there are some Universities that are studying how to make cells better all of the time.

If I were going to play with Li type cells in a DIY mode, I would be tempted to try LiPos first instead of Li Ion. The reason is that LiPos are more or less flat stacks of material which are edge connected, and it might be possible to find a supplier of this material more easily. Li Ions have the additional challenge that you need to wind them up and weld on the caps, etc. That is just a seat of the pants guess BTW on which is easier.

You could gain some experience with the plate stacking approach to LiPos by starting with the modest but robust Pb acid cell as a test mule. All of the necessary parts are readily available, and the risks are lower in case something goes imperfectly.

There is a small infrastructure in the US still for Li based cells, mostly along the east coast. I suspect with the increased emphasis on electric / hybrid cars, and GMs coming factory for Li based batteries, more infrastructure to support this will be coming.

 

[VidPro]

I don't see why people are mentioning problems in working with lithium metal. At no point should metallic lithium be present in a standard lithium ion cell. If it is present, that's when you start to get problems (fire, explosion, etc.).
.

ok the metal isnt in there, then what is it in there that looks like metal and reacts like lithium? honestly whatever they want to call it, and whatever particalising of it into the carbon, its still there, and in Grams listed on the specs besides.
Ions Schmions i dont really think its as big a miracle as it sounds, because (as usual) when your job is doing it, your still human, using human principals , and human machines and all. what, they peel a little energy off it and make it starved for electrons or something.

sure the original lithium rechargables didnt worry about the pure lithium raw metals in quantity, and they blew up a bit whats the problem
so they particalised it, and precharged it in some direction, and mix it up with some other stuff to dampen it, and sold it for twice the price with half as much in it.
it still all goes back together don't it? just because a few electrons are added or subtracted that dont belong , itll snap right back where it was
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ionization

am i to really believe that they "ionized" the metal and took the IONS and then tossed the metal in the trash can Really i dont know SQUAT about it, but i am still having FUN and learning too.
if you treat the lithium right you wouldnt need to "ionize" it anymore than they needed to when THEY first started making this stuff.

Ok i am trivilising it , because i really DO think that you can splash together a "working" cell of ANY sort all you need is the 3 main ingredients. THEN you spend the rest of your life perfecting it. http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/lithium-ion-battery-4.jpg

if i can run a clock off a lemon and 2 hunks of metal, the op can make a battery , mabey make it nice and small like a pitri dish battery and even claim it can charge in 10 seconds, and has 18 kilajoules per gram then have a press releace about 3mm cell phone batteries that will last for years on a single charge

and if he makes a seperator out of 50c of wall mart polyester , then more power to him oops i cant believe i said that, replace that with its proper term "thermoset polycondensate", of course it wouldnt hurt to reinforce it with silicon to improve its flexural modulus , and tensile strength, and coefficient of thermal expansion . uhh make it harder with glass