TheNerdyFarmer - 11-12-2016 at 16:06
I have a laptop battery that isn't good anymore. I want to know if there is any chemical use of these. It is a lithium ion battery to a HP pavilion
entertainment pc. If there is any chemical value, how will I know which electrolyte they used?? I have taken apart one of these battery cells and
there was the anode and the cathode wrapped up inside with two or three plastic sheets insulating them. Not sure which was which but there was a
copper sheet with a chemical coating and a (what appeared to be) aluminum sheet with a chemical coating. I know these are lithium compounds(hence the
name "lithium Ion") but the companies tend to use so many variations of them I'm not sure where to find what kind I have. Please help me Identify the
chemical used in this and if I should even bother with extracting it from the battery.
ave369 - 11-12-2016 at 17:02
Does any of the metal sheets react with water? Many lithium batteries have lithium foil.
TheNerdyFarmer - 11-12-2016 at 18:36
no that's what I thought with the silvery sheet but It didn't react with water. That's when I made the assumption that is was aluminum. The second one
was definitely copper.
Only disposable lithium batteries have sheets of lithium in them. The Lithium ion batteries use lithium based compounds, hence the name lithium ion.
XeonTheMGPony - 12-12-2016 at 03:51
the lithium forms an alloy with the grid, during charging the ions embed in the positive grid and discharge collected on the negitive grid, so you'd
have to refine the Li out of the grid material which can eb a polymer graphit matrix or a metal one.
Sulaiman - 12-12-2016 at 04:39
I've opened a few laptop packs, most common is ALL cells ok but electronics failed
(fuel-gauge/current-limit or cell-balance control)
some had one failed cell with the others now in service.
So it may be worth checking ?
As for the chemistry;
. it could be your life's work - recycling of batteries is a clear opportunity.
. it could be the death of you - some seriously toxic products are possile
Did you research what to expect in the cell BEFORE you opened it ? ... 
P.S. MANY products from China have ex-battery pack cells, they work just fine
- but probably do not have the mA.h printed on the new wrapper
(50% is a starting approximation)
[Edited on 12-12-2016 by Sulaiman]
TheNerdyFarmer - 12-12-2016 at 07:46
Yes i had done some research. I was expecting like a sheet covered in carbon and then another one covered in like a lithium cobalt compound but that
might not have happened. I was hoping that i got a cobalt compound so i could extract the cobalt metal so is there a good way to identify what
chemical is in it???