Which battery is the best AA battery?

AA/AAA battery is widely used, but many people think it is very mature and there is no place for research. In fact, there are many misunderstandings and blind spots from primary AA battery to rechargeable AA battery.

AA/AAA battery can be divided into primary batteries and rechargeable batteries. Primary AA battery mainly include hydrogen and oxygen fuel cells, alkaline batteries, carbon batteries, primary lithium iron batteries; Rechargeable AA battery mainly include nickel cadmium battery, nickel metal hydride battery, nickel zinc battery, ultra-low self-discharging nickel metal hydride battery, lithium iron phosphate rechargeable battery, 3.7V to 1.5V lithium polymer battery.

This article is going to tell you the pros and cons of all these batteries. I believe that you will have your own opinion after reading this guide.

Primary AA battery

Hydrogen and oxygen fuel battery

Panasonic’s hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell, which it has been working on for 40 years, is both the most successful and the most dangerous AA battery product.

Advantages:

①High discharge voltage, up to 1.75V, cut-off voltage is about 1.3V;

②Ultra-low internal resistance, the initial internal resistance of AA battery is about 10 mm and equal to that of the fully charged new nickel-cadmium rechargeable battery, due to the hydrogen-oxygen reaction after the formation of liquid water to enhance the activity of the electrolyte, hydrogen oxygen battery is different from any other AA battery, the internal resistance is very low, only about 3-5 mm;

③Ultra-high capacity, energy density is about 220% of the same volume of alkaline battery, close to lithium battery;

④Super discharge current, the peak current pulse can be as high as 50A, and can even start the car ignition;

⑤Super clean and environmentally friendly, zero pollution.

Disadvantages:

①High manufacturing cost, because the generation of hydrogen requires expensive electrolytic equipment, and because both hydrogen and oxygen are gaseous at normal temperature, the cost of the compressive battery tank to package them is extremely high, so the price of commercial AA battery has been around 15 per unit for a long time;

②The battery charge retention effect is not good, charge retention rate is less than 70% after 3 years. So it should not be stored for a long time, need to be used immediately after purchase.

③The high initial voltage leads to the burning and breakdown of the power supply circuit when some general electric appliances need battery series power supply, resulting in irreversible losses;

④Extremely low temperature performance, the maximum discharge current of the battery at -10℃is less than 1% of that at 25℃to 45℃, which is very difficult to discharge. And the hydrogen and oxygen battery that uses more than 50% of the power, due to the sharp rise in water content, the dilution concentration of electrolyte is reduced, and the freezing point is also increased. When the environment is below -10℃, it will be broken by water freezing and lead to hanging;

⑤With active elements hydrogen and oxygen, especially hydrogen, the load on the pressure vessel is very high, even the panasonic, the lithium ion battery company with high technical level, cannot guarantee the quality of the battery rate reached 100%. If the battery is not in use for a long time or use under the small current, liquid water in the container is becoming more and more, and the  container itself has the metal fatigue damage under the action of the pressure for a long time.

Then cause leakage and short circuit, because the ratio of hydrogen and oxygen content is strictly inside the battery, and small internal resistance will not lead to explosion, but produce leakage can be very serious, because of the leakage of battery is likely to have high remaining power, a short-circuit 50A current can be generated in the local electrical equipment with high heat that can instantly burn a wireless keyboard or mouse. Because of these shortcomings, hydrogen and oxygen batteries were eliminated and withdrew from the stage of history.

Best application: Eyelash pencil, lighter

Overall rating: 3 stars

Alkaline battery

This is the most common AA battery you can buy anywhere.

Advantages:

①High initial discharge voltage, up to 1.6V, cut-off voltage is about 0.9V;

②Moderate price and good market popularity;

③Ultra high capacity, high quality alkaline battery can release up to 3000MAH or so under low current environment;

④Ultra-low self-discharge, high-quality alkaline battery can still maintain more than 80% of the power after ten years, suitable for long-term preservation use;

⑤No mercury, clean and eco-friendly, low pollution.

Disadvantages:

①At not very high fluctuating currents, voltage fluctuation is large, for example, when used in the recording pen, the noise will be very obvious;

②There is no obvious discharge platform, and the return speed is not ideal in the process of intermittent large current use, such as camera flash, and it is not suitable for continuous use in the discharge environment of more than 0.1c, because the voltage will drop quickly, and it is difficult to discharge all the power at one time;

③Low temperature performance is very poor, -10℃can only release about 15% of the power at 25℃, not suitable for cold outdoor use;

④High internal resistance, and the more the internal resistance rose faster, the end of the discharge internal resistance can be as high as 10 ohms or more. On the occasion of high voltage requirements, it may have a lot of power can not drive the machine, because the battery internal resistance points away too much voltage;

⑤It is always difficult to completely overcome the leakage problem, alkaline battery is not suitable for more than one year to stay in a device.

Best application: Tape player, adult electric toy, wireless mouse

Overall rating: 6 stars

Carbon battery

This is a primary AA battery that is once common but is now less common but available for purchase.

Advantages:

①Very cheap, although there are no carbon batteries produced by small factories, but the price of carbon batteries is about 1 for international first-tier brands like Panasonic and Toshiba;

②High initial voltage, up to 1.67V, cut-off voltage is about 1.1V;

③The reliability of steel shell carbon battery is irreplaceable so far, and there is almost no possibility of leakage to ensure the safety of equipment;

④Ultra-low self-discharge;

⑤The capacity of carbon battery is high. For such as panasonic red AA battery, the measured true capacity is as high as 2000AMH above to rival sanyo Philharmonic low self-release nickel hydride;

Disadvantages:

①The reaction speed of the battery is slow. The reason is that the electrolyte of the carbon battery is paste, paste will become more and more thick in the use process, and the source of electricity is the electrochemical reaction of the zinc skin in the corrosion battery, the reaction is blocked, so the discharge is slower.

Because it is completely out of power when the steel shell carbon battery is to clean the zinc corrosion, so for the so-called 100MA small current adopted in the conventional measurement of the battery capacity for carbon AA battery is too large, the batteries don’t have such fast reaction speed, so the one-time release of poor is about 400AMH power;

When the continuous current drops to 10MA, the battery can release about 1000MAH power at a time; When the continuous current drops to about 1MA, the carbon battery can be squeezed dry, and more than 2000MAH can be released at a time. Therefore, when using carbon battery in quartz clock, the use time is very close to alkaline battery. If alkaline can be used for 2 years, then there is no problem with high quality steel shell carbon for 1 and a half years.

②The internal resistance is really large, caused by mushy electrolyte, and the more you use it, the greater the internal resistance is.

③There is serious decline of low temperature performance, although not as severe as alkaline battery decline, but due to its low discharge capacity, so it is more difficult to discharge at low temperature, but because it is generally used in ultra-small current equipment is not easy to feel;

④Continuous discharge characteristics are not good, intermittent discharge electrical is optional;

⑤Although the formula has been improved, it is still polluting to some extent.

Best application: remote control, radio, quartz clock, wireless keyboard, electronic calculator, doorbell

Overall rating: 5 stars

Primary lithium iron battery

This is not a very old AA battery with excellent discharge capacity.

Advantages:

① High initial voltage, up to 1.79V, discharge platform is 5V, cut-off voltage is about 1.15V;

② Excellent battery capacity and continuous large current discharge characteristics, it comprehensively surpass the alkaline battery;

③ In the form of irregular fluctuation of ordinary current intensity, itis the most excellent stabilized voltage power supply;

④ Excellent low temperature performance, although not as good as nickel-cadmium battery，but it is the most outstanding primaryAA battery, and can release most of the power under -10℃environment;

⑤ Inherent ultra-low self-discharge characteristics. It can maintain more than 90% of the power in 5 years.And the internal structure is closed, andconvenient to storage for a long time;

Disadvantages:

① The price is high, exceeding the price of most AAbattery, and cannot be recharged, which is not easy to accept by general consumers;

② The high initial voltage leads to the burning and breakdown of the power supply circuit for some low-power electrical appliances with general quality that need four or more batteries in series when working, thus causeirreversible damage. The open circuit voltageof some low-quality primary lithium iron battery up to more than 2.0 V, far in excess of the IEC standard;

③ There are few purchase channels and it is hard to see and buy in the market;

④ The internal resistance of the battery is high, far more than the internal resistance of the general alkaline AA battery, the internal resistance of the new battery is more than 200 mm, after a period of time, the internal resistance will rise sharply, the use of large current lead to seriousheat.Explosive hazard under short circuit conditions, not as safe as nimH batteries;

⑤ On the surface, it has a large capacity, but in practice, it can be used in intermittent or continuous high-power electric appliances with the same power as the low self-discharging nickel-metal hydride battery. Because in the middle and later stages of battery discharge, more voltage is applied to the internal resistance of the battery, and more current is consumed to heat the battery. Therefore, this kind of AA battery is better used in small and medium current devices;

Best application:

Mobile recording pen, remote control, radio, quartz clock, electronic calculator, doorbell, tape player, children/adult electric toy, wireless mouse/keyboard, strong light torch, electric razor, camera flash, electric toothbrush, gamepad, Casio electronic Dictionary… AA/AAA battery is suitable for more than 80% of all applications.

Overall rating: 8 stars

Rechargeable AA /AAA battery

Nickel-cadmium battery

Nickel-cadmium battery is a very mature AA battery technology with good power.

Advantages:

① Low price, easy to accept, the cheapest type of rechargeable AA battery;

② Ultra-low internal resistance, high charge-discharge efficiency;

③ Over-charge and over-discharge resistance, the actual service life can reach the 500 times;

④ Super discharge current, the peak current of AA battery can up to 20A;

⑤ Very good low temperature performance.Nickel-cadmium battery has an excellent charge retention rate at -20 C, and it can maintain about 90% power for 3 years, which is of practical significance. This is why the military still can’t get rid of nickel-cadmium battery;

Disadvantages:

① Low capacity, it is almost the rechargeable AA batterywith lowestcapacity ;

② Memory effect is serious;

③ Serious pollution, cadmium is a heavy metal;

④ lowInitial voltage , 1.45V at full charge, discharge platform at about 1.25V;

⑤ Serious self-discharge at room temperature of 25℃, loss of 25%-30% per month when fully charged, power exhaustion in about 3 months.

Best application: low temperature flashlight, children’s electric toys, low temperature environment camera flash

Overall rating: 5 stars

Nimh battery

Nimh battery is a very mature technology with high capacity.

Advantages:

① Low price;

② Low internal resistance, high charge-discharge efficiency;

③ High capacity, about 300% of nickel-cadmium rechargeable battery;

④ Clean and eco-friendly, low pollution;

⑤ Weak memory effect,convenient to maintain;

Disadvantages:

① It is not resistant to overcharge and overdischarge, and the actual service life can not reach 1000 times, evenshorter than the life of nickel-cadmium battery;

② Poor low temperature performance, the discharge effect is severely attenuated below -10℃;

③ The discharge current is not very good, and the peak value of AA battery can hardly exceed 10A current;

④ lowInitial voltage,38V at full charge, discharge platform is about 1.2V;

⑤ Serious self-discharge at room temperature of 25℃, loss of 30%-35% per month when fully charged, power exhaustion in 2-3 months or so, need to charge as needed.

Best application: flashlight, children/adult electric toy, electric shaver

Overall rating: 5 stars

Nickel-zinc battery

Nickel-zinc battery is a kind of immature semi-finished AA battery, and has a certain use significance.

Advantages:

① High voltage discharge platform, initial voltage up to 1.7V, discharge platform about 1.55V, cut-off voltage 1.4V, suitable for high voltage requirements of electrical appliances;

② Low internal resistance;

③ High capacity, more than 200% of nickel-cadmium battery capacity, close to nickel-hydrogen battery capacity;

④ No memory effect, no need to recharge after discharge;

⑤ Clean and environmental protection, low pollution;

Disadvantages:

① It is not resistant to overcharge and overdischarge. An overcharge or overdischarge will lead to the complete scrapping of the battery;

② It is difficult to judge the charger is full. In order to prevent overcharging, it is difficult for the battery to reach the state of full charge.

③ Serious self-discharge at room temperature of 25℃, monthly loss of 25%-35% when fully charged, power exhaustion in 2-3 months or so;

④ It is difficult to preserve, and it costs a lot to maintain the battery in a state of power, whether factory or individual;

④ The number of effective cycles is too little.No matter how to preserve and maintain, this battery is less than 100 times of cycle life.

Best application: camera flash, electronic sphygmomanometer, balloon pump

Overall rating: 3 stars

Ultra-low self-discharging nickel-metal hydride battery

It is the most popular AA/AAA battery types with mature technology.

Advantages:

① Ultra-low self-discharge, Japanese FDK philharmonic can achieve 70%remaining power after 10 years;

② Ultra-low internal resistance, the internal resistance of low self-releasing nickel-metal hydride AAbattery is about 40 mm or so;

③ Large discharge current, that ofthe Japanese FDK Philharmonic can exceed 10A;

④ The memory effect is further weakened to almost no;

⑤ The low temperature performance has been greatly improved, the Japanese FDK Philip have a good discharge capacitybelow -20℃;

Disadvantages:

① Not resistant to over charge and over discharge;

② The actual cycle lifeof AA/AAA battery can not reach the 2100 times;

③ High price;

④ Limited purchase channels;

⑤ Initial voltage low, 1.42V at full charge, discharge platform is about 1.25V.

Best application: Camera flash, children/adult electric toy, electric shaver, electric toothbrush, gamepad, electronic dictionary

Overall rating: 9 stars

Lithium iron phosphate rechargeable battery

Lithium iron phosphate rechargeable battery is high-performance rechargeable battery developed in recent years have great advantages over other AA/AAA battery.

Advantages:

① Ultra high discharge voltage, initial discharge voltage as high as 3.4V, discharge platform about 3.2V, cut-off voltage down to 2.0V, one AA battery reaches the sum of the voltage of other two AA/AAA batteries;

② Super resistance to over-discharge, which is absolutely not possessed by other types of lithium batteries. Plus lithium batteries do not have memory effect and can be charged with use, which is very convenient;

③ Super high temperature performance, the highest operating temperature environment can reach 75℃, suitable for harsh environment;

④ The cycle life is conservatively calculated to be more than 2000 times. And the cycle life of 2000 times of lithium iron phosphate rechargeable battery is not difficult to achieve in actual use.

⑤ Lithium batteries are born with ultra-low self-discharge characteristics.

Disadvantages:

① In the sintering process of preparation of lithium iron phosphate, it is possible for iron oxide to be reduced to elemental iron under high temperature reducing atmosphere. Simple iron will cause the micro short circuit of the battery, which is the most taboo substance in the battery.

It will cause the self-discharge of the battery to become more and more serious with the increase of charge and discharge times until it loses its practical significance. This is also the main reason why Japan has not used thismaterial as a cathode material for power lithium-ion batteries;

② Lithium iron phosphate has some performance defects, such as low vibration density and compaction density, resulting in low energy density of lithium ion battery;

③ The low temperature performance is poor;

④ The preparation cost of the material and the manufacturing cost of the battery are high, the yield of the battery is low, and the possibility of leakage is not low. The nanocrystalization and carbon coating of lithium iron phosphate improve the electrochemical performance of the materials, but also bring other problems, such as the reduction of energy density, higher synthesis cost, poor electrode processing performance and harsh environmental requirements.

Although the chemical elements Li, Fe and P in lithium iron phosphate are abundant and the cost is low, the product cost of lithium iron phosphate is not low. Even excluding the early research and development cost, the technological cost of this material plus the high cost of preparing batteries will make the final unit energy storage cost high.

⑤ Poor product consistency. From the perspective of material preparation, the synthesis reaction of lithium iron phosphate is a complex multiphase reaction, consisting of solid phosphate, iron oxide and lithium salt, plus carbon precursor and reducing gas phase. In this complex reaction process, it is difficult to guarantee the consistency of the reaction.

Best application: razors, gamepads

Overall rating: 6 stars

3.7V to 1.5V lithium polymer battery

3.7V to 1.5V lithium polymer battery is a newly developed eye-catching AA/AAA battery concept product.

Advantages:

① Super high capacity ;

② Voltage-stabilized power supply;

③ Built-in battery protection board, completely eliminate the occurrence of lithium polymer battery overdischarge;

④ Fully enclosed battery structure to prevent battery leakage;

⑤ Clean , low pollution;

Disadvantages:

① The natural attenuation and inertia of lithium polymer batteries lead to the capacity of lithium batteries from the moment they leave the factory continues to decay, the higher the stored voltage, the faster the self-attenuation, each small current charging time is longer,the aging faster, each large current charging time is shorter, the internal resistance rises faster;

② The extra complex precise control circuit used in 1.5V battery equipment is durable and reliable, which makes it difficult to reduce the cost to match the life of lithium battery itself;

③ At present, AA/AAA batteryis used in very limited occasions, and they are basically used by ultra-low energy consumption equipment;

④ The price is too high.

Best application: suitable for high power appliances, such as shavers, vibrating game controllers, camera flash, electric toothbrush

Overall rating: 3 stars