Batteries catch fire. Very large ones, or many cells together can mean a very hot, very dangerous fire, with the occasional violence of a cell bursting.
Being in close contact with something like a phone when that happens would cause burns, but they don’t “explode” with very much force. (Relatively speaking. You wouldn’t get lethal fragmentation for example, I don’t think)
The note 7 batteries didn’t really go boom in the way an actual explosive does, though the reaction is a sudden and fast release of thermal energy, its not that much energy in terms of explosive devices.
So no. You can’t “hack” a phone and turn it into a bomb using just the hardware that is already inside. You could start a fire, and that could be deadly, but as an explosive device the battery in most phones is not that potent.
One side of your deskpad may be grippier than the other. I noticed this with my pad when I flipped it once. The keyboard side seems to have become worn and become rough on a visually unnoticeable level, so my mouse now slides way better one end of the pad than the other.
Also, others have suggested teflon replacements for the skates.
You can also get “universal” adhesive glass mouse skates. Once I tried glass skates on a mouse I never wanted to use anything else.
That said I benefit from this most when I use my mouse for gaming. It might be pointless for average use, but the extremely low friction is very comfortable.