Batteries are used in almost all portable electronic devices and accessories as a source of power. Some of the batteries can be used again after recharging and are called rechargeable or secondary batteries. The rechargeable batteries use some reversible electrochemical reactions between the electrodes and electrolytes that take place during discharging or recharging process. These chemical reactions are quite complicated and so is the underlying process that is involved in charging a rechargeable battery.
Some of the batteries have such characteristics that the quality of previous recharging cycles have an effect on the current charging cycles. In other words, the extent to which the battery had been discharged or charged has influence over the charging or discharging of the batteries in the future. This effect shown by the battery is called the Memory Effect. For example, if such a battery is put on charging only after it has been partially discharged to a certain extent, and the same is done again and again during every charging cycle, then the battery tends to remember the regular discharging level and won’t be able to hold charge effectively once it discharges below the level. Thus, the battery memory effect tends to decrease the longevity of charge of the battery over time and one can’t harness the total potential of such a battery. The memory effect is seen mostly in nickel-cadmium and nickel-metal hydride batteries while modern lithium-ion and lithium-polymer batteries seem to be resistant to this effect.
Since the problem is caused due to repeated partial discharging of the battery, it seems that the memory effect can be prevented or reversed by deep-discharging of the battery each time but it indeed, is not a good idea. The reason behind this is that the batteries used in our devices are generally made with a combination of multiple cells. Though these cells are similar to each other, they are not completely identical in terms of charging capacity. Some individual cells may have less charge storing capacities than others. If such a battery is completely discharged, some of the cells will be discharged early while the others will still be somewhat charged. This will lead to the reverse charging of the discharged cells by the charged ones, leading to permanent damage to those cells. The same cells will be damaged more and more with each complete discharge.
A better approach towards preventing or even repairing battery memory effect is to completely discharge and charge the individual batteries separately. Memory effect can also be avoided by using a lithium-based battery instead and using smart battery management systems that can take proper care of the battery.
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