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If you are keeping a pet, you should take particular care of cell phone or notebook batteries, experts warn. A small hole created if your pet chews on it can lead to a chemical reaction that may cause it to explode. Samsung SDI, the nation¡¯s largest rechargeable battery manufacturer, says it has had several reports of cell phone explosions caused by pets.
Li-ion rechargeable batteries, which are most widely used for cell phones, help make handsets smaller while improving performance, but their structure makes them more liable to blow up. The liquid inside is highly flammable, which can lead to a so-called runaway thermal reaction under certain conditions. Even a minute amount of a foreign substance that gets into the batteries during manufacturing can interact and make them explode, experts say. In that case, the battery will first emit smoke, and then combust with a pop. This is not powerful enough to claim people¡¯s lives, but could lead to a fire in the home. A series of such explosions have taken place in the U.S. and Japan, where computers with Sony batteries have had to be recalled.
A Samsung SDI official said if children pierce batteries with a sharp instrument, it can also be dangerous, and warned parents to make sure this does not happen. Korean Air and Australia¡¯s Qantas have banned the use of Dell and Apple¡¯s notebooks with Sony batteries onboard since last month. To prevent battery explosions, make sure you buy authentic products. Given their structural characteristics, batteries have to be manufactured very carefully, but knockoff brands sometimes do not meet such safety conditions. Most the cell phone explosions in China were due to knockoff batteries, an investigation showed.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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