As we know, all chemical reactions are affected by temperature, and a battery relies on chemical reaction to generate power. One can easily infer that temperature does affect power of a battery. The optimum functioning of a battery is at room temperature. With a slight deviation in temperature , changes can be seen in capacity and service life.
When temperature is elevated, the capacity of the battery increases due to decrease in internal resistance and increase in chemical metabolism. However, if such conditions persist for a long duration, the service life of the battery shortens. At elevated temperature of 50°C, the performance of the battery increases by 12%.
On the contrary, lower temperature increases internal resistance and reduces the rate of chemical metabolism, and thus results in a decrease in the capacity of the battery. If a battery’s capacity is 10o% at 27°C , it lowers significantly to 50 percent, once temperature is 18°C. At freezing point, the capacity of the battery reduces to 20 percent. At -20°C, most batteries stop functioning. Now you might have understood why your car’s battery dies on a cold morning. At freezing point , aqueous electrolyte containing batteries such as lead-acid, stop functioning due to freezing of the electrolyte itself. In the case of a lithium-ion battery, lithium plating (accumulation) on the anode occurs at extreme low temperatures, resulting in permanent reduction of the capacity.
Temperature also affects service life of a battery. Battery performs best at room temperatures. If temperature is increased to 30°C for a long duration of time, service life of the battery reduces by 20 percent. While at 45°C, the life-cycle is reduced considerably to 50 percent.
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