Future notebook batteries to be lithium polymer

Lithium polymer batteries use lithium as an active ingredient. Lithium is a volatile material, but the lithium in these batteries isn't packed into cells as it is in lithium ion batteries. Instead, it is contained in a polymer gel. These gel batteries can't provide the same sort of energy density as lithium ion batteries, but that's now a plus.

Manufacturers, and in particular Sony, have pushed the energy density (or capacity) of lithium ion batteries. When an internal short occurs, it can set off a chain reaction and start a fire. Dell, Lenovo, Toshiba, Apple Computer and others, in conjunction with Sony, have offered to take back millions of lithium ion batteries shipped with particular notebooks in the past two years.