• @Geodad@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    86 days ago

    On one side of the battery, it is elemental Lithium.

    It exchanges electrons across a membrane with another substantial.

    Using water on it is bad because the reaction between Lithium and water evolves Hydrogen gas, which ignites in the fire.

    • @entwine413@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      13
      edit-2
      6 days ago

      You’re wrong.

      Lithium batteries contain little to no elemental lithium. They normally contain lithium cobalt oxide, lithium iron phosphate, or lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide as the anode, and a lithium salt as the electrolyte.

      Water is about the only way to put one out because it’s an exothermic reaction (water is to cool it down so it stops), and two out of the three are self-oxidizing so you can’t just smother it.

      The biggest danger of a lithium battery getting wet is that it shorts, which can lead to a fire because it goes into thermal runaway. But this can happen if you have one in your pocket with spare change (most of the vape fires in the 2010s were this)

      • @shroomato@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        76 days ago

        A tiny “ackshually” is that there also exist non-rechargeable lithium batteries that have actual elemental lithium in them, which might be adding to the confusion.

        • @entwine413@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          English
          26 days ago

          Even those aren’t elemental lithium. They use Lithium-iron disulfide, Lithium-thionyl chloride, Lithium-manganese dioxide, and Lithium-sulfur dioxide.