Alkaline and Lithium batteries are among the most common batteries in the world, as they are available to the public in the form of AA and AAA batteries. The figure below shows the basic composition of a battery.


image from http://www.qrg.northwestern.edu

Both the alkaline and lithium battery consists of three parts: an anode, a cathode, and an electrolyte. Power is generated by the chemical reaction that takes place in the battery. As the reaction progresses, electrons build up at the anode, creating an electrical difference between the positive and negative sections of the battery. Because of this, electrons start to flow towards the cathode, which is connected to the load you want to supply voltage to.

While both batteries use the same method to provide voltage, they use different reagents for the reaction. Lithium batteries use lithium metal or compounds for the anode and manganese dioxide as the cathode. There are many different possible chemicals that can be used as the electrolyte for this reaction.

Alkaline batteries use zinc powder for the anode, and manganese dioxide for the cathode. The electrolyte used is potassium hydroxide.

While lithium batteries provide more voltage than alkaline batteries, they contain toxic materials and are more expensive.

While it is possible to reverse the chemical reaction to recharge a battery, it is not recommended that you do so with these batteries unless it the packaging says it's rechargeable, as alkaline batteries can explode if charged. Lithium batteries and lithium ion batteries are different, lithium batteries being nonchargeable.

Trivia of the day: Some states restrict the amount of batteries sold due to their suspected use in meth labs.

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