Board-Mount Batteries

Author: Nichicon

7/1/2023

SLB-Series-Energy-Harvesting-Evaluation-Board-1

There is an increasing demand for reliable, rechargeable LTO batteries that not only last, but can also be used on circuit boards in constrained spaces. At Nichicon, we manufacture board-mount, pin-type batteries that can be mounted to small circuit boards for space constrained applications. These batteries can provide a constant supply of power as they can be charged at constant current.

What is a board-mount battery?

Our board-mount batteries are lithium-titanium-oxide (LTO) batteries that can be mounted to printed circuit boards (PCBs) for a number of applications. These batteries are small and slender, which is why they are also referred to as pin-type batteries. Our pin-type batteries are rapid charging for repeated usage.

Nichicon provides board-mount batteries that are also LTO batteries which differ from standard lithium-ion batteries. The main difference is that LTO batteries use lithium titanate instead of graphite as the anode active material. The lithium titanate causes the electrode surface and ions in the electrolyte to form the energy storage mechanism. Standard lithium-ion batteries use an electrochemical storage mechanism involving electrochemical reactions with electrolytes made from lithium salts. When in use, the lithium ions migrate and become stacked within the anode. When the electrochemical reaction occurs, the discharged ions pass through the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) coating on the surface of the anode and stack on top of the coating. The passage of the lithium ions through the SEI coating generates significant resistance that will increase as more lithium ions are stacked on the SEI.

The titanate in LTO batteries has a higher reaction onset voltage than graphite and other materials used in traditional lithium-ion batteries which results in a thinner SEI coating for lower resistance and reduces electrolyte decomposition. This results in a better cycle life performance than standard lithium-ion batteries.

What are the advantages of Nichicon board-mount batteries?

Our LTO board-mount batteries have many advantages over traditional lithium-ion batteries including superior performance, rapid charging, and a longer life. They can be mounted onto PCBs for a range of space constrained applications.

The following are the main advantages of our board-mount batteries:

Rapid charging: Our board-mount batteries can discharge and recharge much faster than standard lithium-ion batteries. A traditional lithium-ion battery may take about an hour to charge while our LTO batteries can charge in about 3 minutes at the same current value. Our LTO batteries are ideal for applications that need a small, high-powered battery.
Micro size: Our small, cylindrical LTO board-mount batteries are our smallest ever at 3 millimeters and they have a small footprint so they can be used for space constrained applications.
Long life: Our high-cycle life battery can last for more than 25,000 charge/discharge cycles. They are resistant to over-charging and over-discharging. The use of lithium titanate in LTO batteries also results in a longer life as the lithium ions are less likely to be consumed by the electrolyte.
Maintenance free: Our board-mount batteries require no maintenance.
Sustainable: These batteries are designed to be environmentally Responsible and adhere to international standards such as RoHS regulations, meeting stringent standards for operation.
High power density: The high-power density input/output of our LTO batteries is higher than typical lithium-ion batteries and approaches the capabilities of electric double layer capacitors (EDLCs).
High safety: Our LTO batteries can operate in harsh conditions and temperatures with a very low risk of ignition or explosion.
Low temperature: These low temperature batteries can be charged and discharged at temperatures as low as -30 °C as the lithium titanate does not experience thermal runaway at these temperatures that can lead to oxygen combustion reactions like in standard lithium-ion batteries.
High power discharge: Our high discharge batteries can fully discharge in about 3 minutes compared to about an hour for standard lithium-ion batteries.
UL 1642 & IEC 62133-2 certified
ISO 9001 & ISO 14001 certified