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To: Ray who wrote (14939)	10/5/1999 9:01:00 AM
From: Ray	Respond to of 27311

For the few, apparently, that have an interest in battery specs and expected production numbers, here is a post copied from the SI LITH board: To: jim heger who wrote (147) From: Javelyn Bjoli Monday, Oct 4 1999 10:53PM ET Reply # of 149 EE Times, October 04, 1999 Li-ion cells dial up size reduction for portable phones Yoshiko Hara TOKYO - Demand for miniaturized components among portable-phone makers has moved the front lines of competition in the rechargeable battery market to cells under 4 mm thick. To get there, vendors are marshaling novel lithium-ion structures, most based on a polymer gel electrolyte. Sanyo and Toshiba-the latter via a nonpolymer technology and a joint venture with Asahi Glass Corp.-are the latest vendors to join the charge to Li-ion batteries measuring less than 4 mm. Sony and Matsushita spearheaded the drive in January with separate introductions tapping polymer electrolyte technology. Sanyo Electric Co. Ltd.'s entry, debuting this month, is a 3.8-mm-thick card-shaped product that takes the polymer route. Toshiba Battery Co. Ltd., meanwhile, has tweaked conventional Li-ion technology to yield a battery measuring 3.6 mm thick, previously the exclusive domain of polymer electrolyte-based offerings. Joint venture A&T Battery intends to ramp production of the cells to 1 million per month early next year. Battery capacity typically decreases proportionally with thickness, whereas phone manufacturers are calling for continual increases in capacity. Sanyo claims to have cleared the technical hurdle by devising a gel material that dissolves the electrolyte uniformly, thus reducing the required volume of polymer and maximizing performance. Sanyo's battery uses the same electrode combination-lithium oxide cobalt and carbon-as conventional lithium-ion batteries. Full capacity is 570 mA-hr at 20 degrees C; about 50 percent of full capacity is retained at -20 degrees C, marking an improvement in polymer batteries' traditionally marginal low-temperature performance, according to Satoru Fukunaga, Sanyo Energy's battery division manager. The battery measures 3.6 x 35 x 62 mm. The discharge voltage is 3.7 V, volumetric energy density is 270 Wh/liter and gravimetric energy density is 156 Wh/kg. The Toshiba approach sticks with a liquid electrolyte but, like the polymer approaches, employs a laminate film in place of the metal exterior packages used for conventional lithium-ion batteries. The cell's electrodes are lithium oxide cobalt and carbon. A spokesman said Toshiba managed to get the battery thickness under 4 mm, and to ensure high reliability and safety ,by optimizing the electrode materials and improving the electrolyte liquid. He said the battery's low-temperature performance-40 percent of full capacity at -20 degrees C-exceeds that of conventional lithium-ion batteries, which he said can drop to 24 percent of full capacity at -20 degrees C. The battery measures 3.6 x 35 x 62 mm and weighs in at 13 grams. Capacity is rated at 540 mA-hr with a discharge voltage of 3.8 V. Volumetric energy density is 290 Wh/liter; gravimetric energy density is 160 Wh/kg. The card-size batteries introduced by Matsushita and Sony in January respectively measure 3.6 and 3.8 mm thick. The other dimensions are the standard card-sized 35 x 62 mm. Matsushita expects to achieve monthly production of 1 million units this fall and Sony next spring.