Industrial button battery cells, as small, high-efficiency energy storage devices, play a crucial role in many electronic devices. The separator, as a vital component within the industrial button battery cell, has a multifaceted and profound impact on battery performance due to its wettability.
Insufficient separator wettability first affects the ion conduction performance of the industrial button battery cell. During battery operation, lithium ions need to migrate between the positive and negative electrodes, and the separator's wettability determines whether lithium ions can pass through smoothly. When the separator wettability is poor, the migration resistance of lithium ions within the separator increases, much like traveling on a narrow and rugged road, resulting in slower ion conduction. This increases the battery's internal resistance, leading to increased energy loss during charging and discharging, with some electrical energy being converted into heat. This reduces the battery's charging and discharging efficiency, decreasing the amount of electricity the battery can store under the same charging conditions, and consequently reducing the amount of electricity that can be released during use, thus affecting the normal operating time of electronic devices.
Secondly, it negatively impacts the cycle life of the industrial button battery cell. Insufficient separator wettability during multiple charge-discharge cycles accelerates the deterioration of the battery's internal structure. Due to poor ion conduction, the positive and negative electrode materials react unevenly during charge and discharge, with some areas over-charged and under-charged while others react insufficiently. This uneven reaction leads to the gradual destruction of the positive and negative electrode materials' structure, causing active material to detach and the battery's capacity to rapidly decline with increasing cycle count. An industrial button battery cell that could normally function normally for a long time may reach the end of its life prematurely due to separator wettability issues, requiring frequent replacement and increasing operating costs.
Furthermore, the safety of industrial button battery cells is also threatened by insufficient separator wettability. When the separator has poor wettability to the electrolyte, it cannot effectively isolate the positive and negative electrodes when the battery is subjected to external impacts, overcharging, over-discharging, or other abnormal conditions, easily leading to internal short circuits. Once a short circuit occurs, a large amount of heat will be generated inside the battery, causing a rapid rise in temperature. This can trigger thermal runaway, leading to battery fire or even explosion, posing a serious threat to the life and property safety of users. Especially in applications with extremely high safety requirements, such as medical equipment and aerospace, the consequences of accidents caused by separator wettability issues are unimaginable.
Furthermore, insufficient separator wettability also affects the low-temperature performance of industrial button battery cells. At low temperatures, the viscosity of the electrolyte increases, and its flowability decreases. If the separator wettability is already poor, the electrolyte will have even less chance to wet the separator at low temperatures, making ion conduction even more difficult. This will cause a sharp decline in the battery's charge and discharge performance at low temperatures, or even prevent it from functioning properly. For example, electronic devices used in cold regions that employ industrial button battery cells with insufficient separator wettability may experience problems such as the device failing to power on or rapidly depleting its power.
From the perspective of battery consistency, insufficient separator wettability also causes problems. In the mass production of industrial button battery cells, variations in separator wettability can lead to inconsistent performance between different cells. Some cells may exhibit superior performance due to good separator wettability, while others may perform poorly due to poor wettability. This inconsistency affects the overall performance of the battery pack, reducing its overall performance and reliability.
In summary, insufficient separator wettability in industrial button battery cells negatively impacts battery performance in multiple aspects, including ion conduction, cycle life, safety, low-temperature performance, and battery consistency. Therefore, during the production of industrial button battery cells, it is crucial to strictly control the quality and process parameters of the separator to ensure good wettability, thereby improving the overall performance and reliability of the battery.
