notebook are everywhere these days. You can't sit in a coffee shop or travel on a plane without seeing at least a couple people typing away on their laptops.

The overwhelming popularity of laptop computers and the demands of consumers have driven innovation and development in the technology for both laptops and the batteries that power them.

Laptop batteries are smaller, lighter, and last longer than ever before. They are also safer. Older types of nickel-based batteries can explode if overcharged. New lithium-ion batteries do not run this risk.

Laptop ComputerBatteries Recalled If lithium-ion batteries are safer, why have we seen so many batery recalls in the news in the past few years? First of all, it's likely that manufacturers are simply taking a conservative approach to managing potential safety issues. Even a relatively low failure rate has caused a recall of millions of notebook batteries.

To preserve consumer safety and build confidence in their products, manufacturers often choose to recall their batteries rather than leave a questionable product on the market. As consumers, we should be genuinely reassured by this vigilance on the part of manufacturers. It assures us that they are also taking measures to improve manufacturing methods and the overall safety of the batteries to avoid recalls in the future.

The Makeup of Laptop Computer Batteries Ultimately, though, lithium-ion batteries are compact containers for a great deal of energy. As batteries become more powerful to meet consumers' demands, the extra stored energy can cause them to become potentially more dangerous.

The manufacturing process for lithium-ion batteries is quite delicate. It involves volatile elements and requires precise assembly. If any metal particles – even microscopic – come into contact with other parts of the battery, an internal short circuit in the battery may result. Errant metallic particles are the cause to which one of the largest battery recalls is attributed. Unless contaminated in this way, a lithium-ion battery will simply shut down when a short circuit occurs.

If a battery is contaminated, however, a short circuit or increase in temperature can cause "thermal runaway," a situation in which an increase in temperature causes a further increase in temperature and ultimately a destructive result. Because lithium-ion batteries are sealed systems and this heat energy must somehow escape, an explosion can result. Exploding laptop computer batteries have caused extensive damage to pieces of equipment and also, most importantly, have caused human injury.

Lithium-ion Batteries Are Safe Incidents of explosion and injury have been, however, very rare. Manufacturers have added important measures to keep lithium-ion batteries operating safely. Most batteries are equipped with dividers to separate individual cells, meaning that if one cell fails due to excessive heat, it will be restrained from spreading the heat and failure to additional cells.

Manufacturers are constantly striving to improve manufacturing processes and add even more safety measures to laptop computer batteries. Lithium-ion batteries are, in the end, the most effective and safe laptop computer batteries on the market today…