Battery self-discharge means that a battery loses some of its capacity after being stored at a certain temperature for a certain period of time. Battery self-discharge is an internal chemical reaction that takes place in batteries. The battery is discharged even though no load is connected. So when a rechargeable battery is not used, it loses some charge. Why this happens was not conclusively understood in research until recently. Researchers at Dalhousie University in Canada have now solved this mystery with a discovery, and the reason is much more mundane than you might imagine. We talk to the two researchers Sebastian Büchele and Tom Bötticher about their discovery.
More info: Links to the two publications:
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1149/1945-7111/acb10c
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1149/1945-7111/acaf44
YouTube channel of Tom Bötticher:
https://www.youtube.com/@doctorscience
