The Voltaic Pile
The first true battery, capable of storing and releasing a charge through a chemical reaction instead of physically, was invented by Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta in 1800. This came to be known as the “voltaic pile” and consisted of pairs of copper and zinc discs piled on top of each other, separated by a layer of cloth or cardboard soaked in brine (i.e., the electrolyte). After considerable experimentation Volta decided that zinc and silver gave the best results as electrodes.
The Trough Battery and the Crown of Cups
One of the major flaws in Volta’s “Voltaic Pile” design was that the electrolyte tended to leak causing short circuits. This issue was solved by Scotsman William Cruikshank who basically laid Volta’s pile in a box. Volta himself trialled a different system that consisted of a chain of cups filled with a salt solution, linked together by metallic arcs made of zinc and copper soldered together dipped into the liquid. This was known as the “Crown of Cups”. A second major flaw was that the zinc part of the element would quickly degrade. This was solved in 1835 by the English inventor William Sturgeon, who found that zinc, whose surface had been treated with some mercury, didn’t degrade so badly. Another problem that caused short battery life for Volta was that the current produced electrolyzed the electrolyte solution, resulting in a film of hydrogen bubbles forming on the copper, which steadily increased the internal resistance of the battery.
The Daniell Cell
An English professor of chemistry named John Frederic Daniell, discovered a way to solve the hydrogen bubble problem. He used a second electrolyte to absorb the hydrogen created by the first. In 1836, he developed the Daniell cell, which has a copper pot filled with a copper sulphate solution, in which is immersed an unglazed earthenware pot filled with sulfuric acid and a zinc electrode. The earthenware pot being porous, allows ions to pass through but keeps the two electrolytes from mixing.
The Daniell cell was the first truly practical source of electricity, proving to be a great improvement over the previous battery technology.
The Gravity Cell
The next development took place in the 1860s. A Frenchman named Callaud created a simpler version of the Daniell cell called the gravity cell. This did away with the porous earthenware barrier reducing the internal resistance and thus enabling the battery to provide a stronger current. It was made of a glass jar, in which a copper cathode is at the bottom and a zinc anode is positioned beneath the rim. Copper sulphate crystals are placed around the cathode and then the jar is filled with distilled water. As the current is drawn, a layer of clear zinc sulphate solution forms at the top around the anode. This top layer is kept separate from the bottom blue copper sulphate layer by the fact that it has a lower density.
The issue with this design is that the battery can be used only in a stationary position, or else the solutions mix or spill. Also, the current has to be continually working to keep the two solutions from mixing, hence the battery cannot be used in short intervals.
Lead-Acid Battery
In 1859, Gaston Planté invented the lead–acid battery which consists of a lead anode and a lead dioxide cathode immersed in sulfuric acid. Both electrodes react with the acid to produce lead sulphate, but the reaction at the lead anode releases electrons whilst the reaction at the lead dioxide consumes them. This produces a current. These chemical reactions can be reversed by passing a reverse current through the battery, thereby recharging it. Compared to other batteries, Planté’s is rather heavy and large for the amount of energy it can hold. However, it is still in use today in cars and other situations where weight is not a factor.
In 1881, Camille Alphonse Faure improved on Planté’s design by employing a lead grid lattice into which is pressed a lead oxide paste, forming a plate. These plates can be stacked together for greater performance and Faure’s design was easier to mass-produce.
The Dry Cell
In 1886, Carl Gassner obtained a German patent on what became known as the dry cell because it does not have a free liquid electrolyte. Instead, ammonium chloride is mixed with plaster of Paris to create a paste, with a small amount of zinc chloride added in to extend it’s working life. The manganese dioxide cathode is dipped in this paste, and both are sealed in a zinc shell, which also acts as the anode. In November 1887, he obtained a U.S. Patent for the same device.
Unlike previous wet cells, Gassner’s dry cell is more robust, does not need much looking after. Also, it does not spill, and can therefore be used on it’s side or upside down.
Zinc-Carbon Battery
In 1896 the National Carbon Company improved Gassner’s model by replacing the plaster of Paris with coiled cardboard. This was the first easily massed produced, convenient battery for the masses and made portable electrical devices practical. It was this power cell, known as the Zinc-Carbon battery, that led directly to the invention of the torch. The zinc–carbon battery is still manufactured today.
Nickel-Cadmium Battery
In 1899, Waldemar Jungner, a Swedish scientist, invented a rechargeable battery that used nickel and cadmium electrodes in a potassium hydroxide solution. This was first battery to use an alkaline electrolyte. It was robust and had much increased energy density compared to lead-acid batteries but was much more expensive.
Nickel-Iron Battery
Waldemar Jungner also developed a nickel–iron battery the same year as his Ni-Cad battery,1899. However, although it was much cheaper to produce, he found it to be inferior to the Nickel-Cadmium so never bothered developing it.
Thomas Edison, seeing a way to make a profit in the competitive battery market, took Jungner’s design, and worked on developing an alkaline nickel–iron battery which he patented in 1901.
Nickel-Metal Hydride Battery
The first commercially viable nickel–metal hydride batteries (NiMH) appeared on the market in 1989 as a variation of the 1970s nickel–hydrogen battery. They tend to have longer lifespans than Nickel-Cadmium batteries and are less damaging to the environment as Cadmium is very toxic.
Lithium Battery
Lithium has the lowest density of any metal, and the greatest electrochemical potential and energy-to-weight ratio meaning it should be ideal for batteries. American physical chemist Gilbert N. Lewis experimented with Lithium batteries as far back as 1912 but commercial lithium batteries did not come to market until the 1970s in the form of the lithium-ion battery.
Lithium-Ion Battery
Following developments of the Lithium battery in the 1980’s by American chemist, John B. Goodenough, Moroccan research scientist, Rachid Yazami and Japanese chemists Tokio Yamabe and Shizukuni Yata the first lithium-ion battery prototype appeared in 1985. As the Lithium-Ion battery was a rechargeable and more stable version of the lithium battery Sony quickly saw the commercial possibilities and released their version of the lithium-ion battery in 1991. These are still widely used, especially in cameras and small devices.
Lithium-Polymer Battery
In 1997, Sony released the lithium polymer battery. These batteries use a solid polymer composite instead of in a liquid solvent for the electrolyte. These batteries can be encased in a flexible wrapping instead of in a rigid metal casing, which means they can be specially shaped for particular devices. Because of their flexibility and compact nature this has meant lithium polymer batteries are the favourite choice in the design of portable electronic devices such as mobile phones and smart watches.
UK Battery LTD has an extensive range of products for all your battery needs whether it be NiMH, Lithium-Ion or Lithium-Polymer.
A Voltaic Pile
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