Lithium iron phosphate is safer than lithium cobalt. Lithium cobalt is a hazard that may harm or irritate eyes, skin or the respiratory tract and may cause harm if swallowed. And unless it is burning, lithium iron phosphate is a fairly safe powder.
Disposing of any lithium products should be a matter of recycling. One reason is simply that lithium is a somewhat limited resource. However, Li-ion’s lithium cobalt lifepo4 battery is an environmental risk if it leaches into soil or water.
Lithium batteries are top choices for high-performance rechargeable battery packs. They are used in cameras, electric vehicles and laptop computers. Electric bicycles and scooters form a growing consumer market, although some of these still use the lead-acid batteries familiar in gasoline-powered automobiles. Hybrid automobiles use lithium battery packs.
Lithium batteries store more power for the same weight than most other commercially available batteries. They store nearly the same charge over their useful lifetime, where some earlier Polymer Lithium ion Battery lost capacity more quickly. Under the stress of rapid charging or heavy use, a lithium ion battery may heat very quickly, causing a fire. Lithium iron batteries stay much cooler under the same stress.
Some testing has shown that lithium iron phosphate batteries can last about 2,000 charge/discharge cycles, compared to perhaps 1,500 for lithium ion batteries. These tests go to the point where the batteries hold noticeably less charge, rather than testing to a point of utter failure. And as well, a lithium iron battery may have a longer shelf life than a Li-ion battery.
Iron and phosphate are less expensive than cobalt, so the cost of raw materials should be less when making the chemical compound LiFePO4 18650 battery than LiCoO2. Possibly, it would be less expensive to handle non-toxic lithium iron phosphate than lithium cobalt dioxide. It remains to be seen whether these advantages result in lower manufacturing costs overall.