Tragedy in the cold: The phone battery dropped quickly to disaster, why?

Has your phone ever fallen into a fast battery down time on cold days?

The story of a man living in Chicago, where the winter is really harsh. It is said that this person once had to be outdoors while the temperature was -16 degrees Celsius, and all he wanted to do was step into a store to avoid the cold.

The other guy has another purpose of charging thanks to the phone battery in the store. When the phone was full of battery, he moved to the city center, an unfamiliar place. No problem, because there is a GPS system on the phone to find the way.

However, when he took out his phone, he found something strange. The phone's battery capacity has decreased markedly, the icon on the right corner of the screen has only one red line and 1% figure. A minute later, the screen turned off.

Picture 1 of Tragedy in the cold: The phone battery dropped quickly to disaster, why?
The phone "snapped" when it was cold.Why?

Why is it like that?

It's simple, it's cold and the battery stops working and its mechanism is as follows.

First of all, it is important to know that batteries that rely on chemical reactions and most of the batteries in electronic devices are now lithium ion . During charging, Lithium ions shift from the anode to the cathode and the discharge process, or battery use, will be the opposite.

Commonly used electrodes are compounds whose crystal structure is in the form of a layer. The ions will penetrate and fill the gap between these layers during charging and battery use, so that chemical reactions occur.

Picture 2 of Tragedy in the cold: The phone battery dropped quickly to disaster, why?
The battery works based on chemical reactions.

But anyone who learns chemistry will know that low temperatures will slow or stop the reaction. And that is why your phone collapses when it is cold.

In fact, scientists have yet to find out exactly why cold weather slows down reactions that occur inside lithium ion batteries. In 2011, a group of battery research engineers shared in The Electrochemical Society: "The exact mechanism leading to poor performance of lithium ion batteries at low temperatures has not been clarified."

But extreme cold weather will reduce the reaction in most batteries is real

Stephen J. Harris, a chemist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, said that under extremely cold temperatures, lithium ion battery charging is impossible.

When the battery capacity on the phone displays 1%, it means that all ions do not shift to negative. Cold temperatures will prevent those reactions, so the current generated is weaker than what the phone needs to operate normally.

The sign of "electric shock" is a battery that suddenly runs out and goes off soon after. When the battery is too cold, the ions will not be able to reach the cathode. Instead, they leave the electrolyte solution and cling to the cathode surface in solid form. This process may damage the performance and battery life.

Picture 3 of Tragedy in the cold: The phone battery dropped quickly to disaster, why?
In fact, phone manufacturers can ensure that the device still works well in the range of 0 - 45 degrees Celsius.

When the device is warmed again, the reaction will return to normal without any impact on the power source. It turns out that ions have not disappeared anywhere, just that they cannot move when the temperature is too cold.

What is the temperature to make the catastrophic decline?

In fact, if you are in Vietnam in the cold days and feel your phone battery is falling faster than the real thing, then the advice is . so replace the battery. In fact, phone manufacturers can ensure that the device still works well in the range of 0 - 45 degrees Celsius.

Outside of that, things began to become more difficult with the device. So, if you feel that the battery is falling faster, it is just a "god of soul" , or your phone is time to replace.