The latest incidents that Samsung has had with the Galaxy Note 7, as you well know, have triggered the company to announce the decision to remove them immediately from the marketThey do nothing but focus on the batteries in these terminals. Now it is true that Note 7 batteries aren't the only ones that explode in certain circumstances nor is Samsung the only manufacturer that exploits the batteries installed in its terminals.
One of the main problems faced by manufacturers today could be in their lack of foresight and investment in developing batteries. At this point I would like to stop and highlight how, for example, the speed of processors practically multiplies year after year while batteries, their construction, capacity ... we could say that it has doubled in the last decade. East imbalance in technology development is what is causing all these problems.
How does a battery work?
To understand much better everything that is happening, it is best to start by understanding what a battery is. Simplifying the theory a lot, a battery today is still a chemical energy container. When we connect, for example, our smartphone to the electrical network, inside the battery a chemical reaction starts where electrons are transferred from the positive pole of the battery to the negative pole. Once charged, the device can be powered until, again, all the electrons have been transferred.
Due precisely to its simple way of working, we find the first limitation of it since, a battery can generate as much electricity as energy can store its chemical components. On the other hand, batteries are not as durable as we would like and this is because, over time, the chemical reaction to be produced becomes more resistant and the greater the resistance, the more difficult it is to maintain a constant tension, thus reducing the energy that can be produced.
Why does a battery explode?
Once we have more or less clear all of the above, it is time to answer the question of why does a battery explode? Based on the comments of Billy Will, Professor of Design Engineering at Imperial College London:
The more energy you put into a box, the more dangerous it will be. Thermal management is crucial. If the battery is heated to more than 80 degrees s it produces what is called thermal runaway, where the components begin to decompose and that is when it can explode.
It must be borne in mind that, until some new technology is suitable to produce batteries for devices, achieving that their performance is similar to the current one and that their price is not higher, Researchers will continue working to bring the performance of current batteries closer to their theoretical limits.
Further information: The Guardian
The first one has not exploded, there is a very big difference between the explosion and the fire. Or between posting something knowledgeable or copy and paste.