This report provides information on the latest technology related to battery composition, battery usage, and battery charging techniques.
A section on the fundamentals of battery technology discusses the characteristics of a battery, how it works, galvanic cells compared to batteries, primary and secondary batteries, and battery labels. Descriptions of battery types encompass "general" battery types, vehicular batteries, "household" batteries, specialty batteries ("button" and miniature batteries), and "other batteries." A section on the performance, economic, and tradeoffs of batteries considers energy densities, energy per mass, energy per volume, memory effects, voltage profiles, self-discharge rates, operating temperatures, cycle life, capacity testing, and battery technology comparison. Guidelines for the selection of the right battery for the application address battery properties, environmental concerns, standardization, testing capacities, mobile radios, cellular phones and PCS phones, laptop computers, and camcorders. Guidelines for battery handling and maintenance focus on battery dangers and the extension of battery life. A discussion of battery chargers and adapters considers charge rates, charging techniques, charging lead-acid batteries, charging nickel-cadmium or Ni-Cd batteries, timed-charge charging, pulsed charge-discharge chargers, charging button batteries, internal chargers, battery testers, "smart" batteries, end of life, and battery adapters. The concluding section profiles battery products and suppliers. 5 figures, 8 tables, 4 equations, a glossary of battery terms, and a 31-item bibliography