Why batteries lose their ability to hold a charge as they age

Scientists have found that batteries lose their ability to hold charge as they age because the finely structured nanomaterials present in the battery get coarsened in size.

Yann Guezennec and Giorgio Rizzoni of Ohio State University developed new experimental facilities and procedures to charge and discharge commercially available LI-ion batteries thousands of times over many months in a variety of conditions designed to mimic how these batteries are actually used by hybrid and electrical vehicles.

"We can clearly see that an aged sample versus an unaged sample has much lower lithium concentration in the cathode," said Rizzoni. The researchers suspect that coarsening of the cathode may be behind this loss of lithium. 

Source: AVS 57th International Symposium and Exhibition, and as reported by Yahoo News India.