The hidden danger of lithium battery powered electric bicycles and scooters: A case series of the Israeli National Burn Center experience

Electric powered bicycles and scooters that use rechargeable lithium batteries are an urban transportation alternative and have become increasingly popular. However, in recent years, there has been an increase in patient admissions to the Israeli National Burn Center with burns associated with their use. In this case series of all patients (n=9) referred to the Emergency Department (February 2016 - October 2020) with lithium related battery burns from electric powered bicycles and scooters, we present burn depth, size, treatment, inhalation injuries and hospitalization. All patients were admitted to in the Israeli National Burn Center for treatment. The average total burn surface area was 27.5% (range 3-57%). All but one patient had a combination of partial to full-thickness burns affecting the upper and lower limbs. Three patients sustained inhalation injuries and a total of four patients required intubation. Seven patients required surgery that included debridement and, in most cases, skin grafting. The availability and increase in the use of battery powered bicycles and scooters may lead to an increase in injuries and death if consumers are not aware of the potential dangers related to the safe use of lithium batteries.

Electrochemical Characterization of Graphene–LiMn2O4 Composite Cathode Material for Aqueous Rechargeable Lithium Batteries

A series of graphene– LiMn2O4 composite electrodes were prepared by physical mixing of graphene powder and LiMn2O4 cathode material. LiMn2O4was synthesized by reactions under autogenic pressure at elevated temperature method. CV, galvanostatic charge-discharge experiments and EIS studies revealed that the addition of graphene significantly decreases the charge-transfer resistance of LiMn2O4 electrodes. 5 wt. % graphene–LiMn2O4 composite electrode exhibits better electrochemical performance by increasing the reaction reversibility and capacity compared to that of the pristine LiMn2O4 electrode. Improved electrochemical performances are thus achieved, owing to the synergic effect between graphene and the LiMn2O4 active nanoparticles. The ultrathin flexible graphene layers can provide a support for anchoring well-dispersed active cathode particles and work as a highly conductive matrix for enabling good contact between them. At the same time, the anchoring of active nanoparticles on graphene effectively reduces the degree of restacking of graphene sheets and consequently keeps a highly active surface area which increases the lithium storage capacity and cycling performance.

Supercritical CO2 Synthesis of Freestanding Se1-xSx Foamy Cathodes for High-Performance Li-Se1-xSx Battery

Selenium-sulfur solid solutions (Se1-xSx) are considered to be a new class of promising cathodic materials for high-performance rechargeable lithium batteries owing to their superior electric conductivity than S and higher theoretical specific capacity than Se. In this work, high-performance Li-Se1-xSx batteries employed freestanding cathodes by encapsulating Se1-xSx in a N-doped carbon framework with three-dimensional (3D) interconnected porous structure (NC@SWCNTs) are proposed. Se1-xSx is uniformly dispersed in 3D porous carbon matrix with the assistance of supercritical CO2 (SC-CO2) technique. Impressively, NC@SWCNTs host not only provides spatial confinement for Se1-xSx and efficient physical/chemical adsorption of intermediates, but also offers a highly conductive framework to facilitate ion/electron transport. More importantly, the Se/S ratio of Se1-xSx plays an important role on the electrochemical performance of Li- Se1-xSx batteries. Benefiting from the rationally designed structure and chemical composition, NC@[email protected] cathode exhibits excellent cyclic stability (632 mA h g−1 at 200 cycle at 0.2 A g−1) and superior rate capability (415 mA h g−1 at 2.0 A g−1) in carbonate-based electrolyte. This novel NC@[email protected] cathode not only introduces a new strategy to design high-performance cathodes, but also provides a new approach to fabricate freestanding cathodes towards practical applications of high-energy-density rechargeable batteries.