Glossary
Plain-language meanings of the technical terms on material pages. Every underlined term on a page links to its own entry here.
A
- adiabatic
No heat is allowed in or out, so any temperature rise comes from the sample itself.
- anode
The negative electrode of a cell.
- ARC Accelerating rate calorimetry
A test that finds the temperature where a sample starts to heat itself. The sample sits in an insulated chamber, so any extra heat comes from the sample.
C
- C-rate
How fast a cell is charged or discharged. 1C empties a full cell in one hour, and 10C empties it in six minutes.
- CAS Chemical Abstracts Service number
A unique registry number that identifies one chemical.
- cathode
The positive electrode of a cell.
- coin cell
A small button-shaped test cell used in the lab.
- current collector
The metal foil, usually aluminium or copper, that carries current in and out of an electrode.
D
E
- EC/DMC Ethylene carbonate and dimethyl carbonate
A common solvent mixture used for the liquid electrolyte in lithium-ion cells.
- EDS Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy
Shows which elements are present in a sample.
- electrolyte
The liquid or gel between the electrodes that lets lithium ions move.
G
- GHS Globally Harmonized System
The international scheme for classifying and labelling chemical hazards.
H
- half-cell
A test cell with one electrode of the material under test and lithium metal as the other, so the material can be measured on its own.
- heat-wait-search
How an ARC test runs: raise the temperature a step, wait, then check whether the sample has started heating itself.
I
- ISS International Space Station
The orbiting laboratory where some of these materials were tested.
L
- LCO Lithium cobalt oxide
The cathode material in many phone and laptop batteries.
- LFP Lithium iron phosphate
A battery cathode material that holds less energy than the nickel-based types but runs much cooler.
- LiPF6 Lithium hexafluorophosphate
The lithium salt most lithium-ion cells use in their liquid electrolyte.
- LTO Lithium titanate
A battery anode material that charges fast and lasts many cycles but holds less energy.
N
O
- OCV Open-circuit voltage
The voltage of a cell when nothing is connected to it.
P
- passivation
A thin protective layer forming on a metal surface that slows further corrosion.
- plateau
A flat stretch where the cell voltage hardly changes as it charges or discharges.
- pouch cell
A flat cell sealed in a soft foil pouch instead of a metal can.
- prismatic
A cell with a flat rectangular metal case.
S
- SDS Safety data sheet
A supplier's document listing a chemical's hazards, handling and storage.
- SEI Solid electrolyte interphase
A thin film that forms on an electrode surface inside a battery.
- SEM Scanning electron microscope
A microscope that images surfaces in fine detail using a beam of electrons.
- separator
A thin porous layer inside a cell that keeps the two electrodes apart while letting lithium ions through.
- SoC State of charge
How full the battery is, as a percentage. 100% is fully charged.
T
- thermal runaway
A cell heating itself faster and faster until it vents gas or fails.
- TWA Time-weighted average
An exposure limit averaged over a work shift.
U
- USGS U.S. Geological Survey
The US agency that publishes mineral supply and production data.
X
- XRD X-ray diffraction
Reveals a material's crystal structure by how it scatters X-rays.
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