BU-808: How to Prolong Lithium-based Batteries
The lithium-ion battery works on ion movement between the positive and negative electrodes. In theory such a mechanism should work forever, but cycling, elevated temperature and aging decrease the performance over time. Since batteries are used in demanding environmental conditions, manufacturers take a conservative approach and specify the life of most Li-ion between 300 and 500 discharge/charge cycles.
The Battery University website gives us details on how to deal with the Lithium batteries so common in most of our laptops and portable devices.
For detailed information on understanding how these batteries work and how to make them last, check out the rest of the articles ....