Nickel–cadmium batteries are the best of the four main battery system in terms of cycle life and can routinely reach over 1000 cycles. The most important operational factors affecting cycle life are depth of discharge, temperature, and overcharging conditions.
They also provide locomotive starting and trackside back-up power for signalling and warning lights in harsh climate areas. Nickel-cadmium batteries are an important tool in a company’s industrial strategy through their ability to supply back-up power to mission-critical industrial assets.
Nickel–cadmium batteries were invented at the turn of the nineteenth to twentieth century and since that time have been a popular battery choice for many applications, in particular when high current or a high number of cycles is needed for an application. In...
The nickel–cadmium secondary battery contains NiOOH/nickel hydroxide as a positive active material, cadmium/cadmium hydroxide as a negative active material, and an aqueous solution containing potassium hydroxide as the main component as an electrolyte. Generally the charge-and-discharge reaction is shown in the following formulas 1, 2 and 3.
A critical issue with standard (industrial) technology batteries is the “sudden death syndrome”, which can lead to catastrophic consequences, particularly in mission-critical applications. Nickel-cadmium batteries, on the other hand, age and lose their capacity gradually.
However, nickel–cadmium batteries have low energy density compared to nickel–metal hydride and lithium–ion batteries. Another apparent disadvantage of nickel–cadmium battery is the so-called memory effect which makes periodical full discharge necessary.