The development of batteries

In ancient times, humans may have been constantly studying and testing such things as "electricity." A clay bottle believed to be thousands of years old was discovered near Baghdad in Iraq in 1932. It has an iron bar inserted into a copper cylinder-it may be used to store static electricity, but the secret of the bottle may never be revealed. Regardless of whether the ancestors who made this clay bottle knew about static electricity, it is certain that the ancient Greeks knew absolutely. They knew that if they rubbed an amber, they could attract light objects. In the 1940s and 1950s, the improvement of power generation devices and the study of atmospheric electricity phenomena attracted widespread interest from physicists. In 1745, Prussia's Kleist used wires to direct the friction electricity to iron nails. glass bottles. When he touched the nail with his hand, he was hit hard. Perhaps inspired by this discovery, Mason Brock of Leiden University in the Netherlands invented the "Leiden bottle" to collect charges in 1746. He wanted to find a way to preserve it because he saw that the electricity that he had managed to collect could easily disappear in the air. One day, he hung in the air with a barrel, connected with the barrel with a motor, and pulled out of the barrel with a copper wire, immersed in a glass bottle containing water, he let an assistant One hand holds the glass bottle, and Mason Brock shakes the motor hard. At this time, his assistant accidentally hit the other hand with the barrel. He suddenly felt a strong electric shock and shouted. Then Mason Brock swapped with the assistant and asked the assistant to shake the motor. He took the water bottle in one hand and touched the barrel with the other hand. In 1780, the Italian anatomist Luigi Galvani held different metal instruments in his hands when he was dissecting a frog. He accidentally touched the frog's thigh at the same time. The muscles of the frog's legs immediately twitched, as if they were stimulated by electricity. If only one metal device is used to touch the frog, there is no such reaction. Luigi Galvani believes that this appearance is due to an electricity generated inside the animal's body. He called it "bioelectricity." The discovery of Galvani attracted great interest from physicists. They competed to repeat Galvani 's experiments in an attempt to find a way to generate current. The Italian physicist Volt thought after many experiments: Galvani's "bioelectricity" is not correct. The muscles of a frog work. In order to prove its point, Volt dipped two different pieces of metal in various solutions for testing. It was found that as long as one of the two metal tablets reacts with the solution, electric currents can be generated between the metal sheets. In 1799, the Italian physicist Volt immersed a zinc plate and a tin plate in salt water and found that there was a current passing through the wire connecting the two metals. So he folded a large number of pieces of zinc and silver between the sheets of fluff or paper impregnated with salt water. When you touch both ends with your hand, you will feel a strong electric shock. In this way, Volt succeeded in making the world's first battery, the "Volt Stack." This "Volt Stack " is actually a series of batteries. It became an early electrical experiment and a source of electricity for Telegraph machines. In 1836, Daniel of the United Kingdom improved the "Volt reactor." He used dilute sulfuric acid as an electrolyte to solve the battery polarization problem and created the first non-polarized zinc-copper battery that can maintain the current. Since then, these batteries have voltage decreases with the extension of service time. When the battery voltage drops after a period of use, the battery voltage rises. Because this battery can be recharged and can be used repeatedly, it is called a "battery." However, no matter what type of battery is required to fill the liquid between the two metal plates, it is inconvenient to carry it. In particular, the liquid used by the battery is sulfuric acid, which is dangerous when moving. It was also in 1860 that GeorgeLeclanche of France also invented the predecessor of the world's most widely used battery (carbon zinc battery). Its negative electrode is an alloy rod of zinc and Mercury (the negative electrode of the zinc-volt prototype battery, which has proved to be one of the best metals for the negative electrode material). Its positive pole is a mixture of crushed manganese dioxide and carbon in a porous cup. A carbon rod is inserted into this mixture as a current collector. Both negative and positive cups are immersed in ammonium chloride solutions as electrolytes. This system is called "wet battery." Although the batteries made by GeorgeLeclanche were simple but cheap, they were not replaced by improved "dry batteries" until 1880. The negative electrode is modified into a zinc tank (ie, the shell of the battery), and the electrolyte becomes a paste rather than a liquid. Basically, this is now known as a carbon zinc battery. In 1887, the Englishman Hellerson invented the earliest dry battery. Dry battery electrolyte is paste, no leakage, easy to carry, so it has been widely used. In 1890 Thomas Edison invented a rechargeable iron and nickel battery.

Battery refers to a device that contains an electrolyte solution and a metal electrode to generate a current in a cup, tank, or other container or part of a composite container that can convert chemical energy into electrical energy. There are positive and negative poles. With the Advancement of science and technology, batteries refer to small devices that can generate electricity. Such as solar cells. The performance parameters of the battery mainly include electromotive force, capacity, specific energy, and resistance. Using batteries as a source of energy, we can obtain a stable voltage, stable current, stable power supply for a long time, and a small amount of external influence. In addition, the battery structure is simple, easy to carry, and the charging and discharging operation is simple and easy, and it is not affected by the external climate and temperature. The performance is stable and reliable, and it plays a great role in all aspects of modern social life.

In 1746, Mason Brock of Leiden University in the Netherlands invented the "Leiden bottle" to collect charges. He wanted to find a way to preserve it because he saw that the electricity that he had managed to collect could easily disappear in the air. One day, he hung in the air with a barrel, connected with the barrel with a motor, and pulled out of the barrel with a copper wire, immersed in a glass bottle containing water, he let an assistant One hand holds the glass bottle, and Mason Brock shakes the motor hard. At this time, his assistant accidentally hit the other hand with the barrel. He suddenly felt a strong electric shock and shouted. Then Mason Brock swapped with the assistant and asked the assistant to shake the motor. He took the water bottle in one hand and touched the barrel with the other hand.

In 1780, the Italian anatomist Luigi Galvani held different metal instruments in his hands when he was dissecting a frog. He accidentally touched the frog's thigh at the same time. The muscles of the frog's legs immediately twitched, as if they were stimulated by electricity. If only one metal device is used to touch the frog, there is no such reaction. Galvani believes that this appearance is due to an electricity generated inside the animal's body. He called it "bioelectricity."

The discovery of Galvani attracted great interest from physicists. They competed to repeat Galvani 's experiments in an attempt to find a way to generate current. The Italian physicist Volt thought after many experiments: Galvani's "bioelectricity" is not correct. The frog's muscles can produce electric currents, probably because some kind of liquid in the muscles is acting. In order to prove its point, Volt dipped two different pieces of metal in various solutions for testing. It was found that as long as one of the two metal tablets reacts with the solution, electric currents can be generated between the metal sheets.

In 1799, the Italian physicist Volt dipped a zinc plate and a tin plate in salt water and found that a current was passed through the wires connecting the two metals. Therefore, he put a lot of fluffed cloth or paper sheets soaked in salt water between the zinc sheets and the silver sheets. When you touch both ends by hand, you will feel strong current stimulation. In this way, Volt succeeded in making the world's first battery, the "Volt Stack." This "volt stack" is actually a battery pack in series. It became the power source for early electrical experiments and telegraph machines.

In 1836, Daniel of the United Kingdom improved the "Volt reactor." He used dilute sulfuric acid as an electrolyte to solve the battery polarization problem and created the first non-polarized zinc-copper battery that can maintain the current. Since then, these batteries have voltage decreases with the extension of service time.

When the voltage drops after the battery is used for a period of time, it can be given a reverse current to make the battery voltage rebound. Because this battery can be recharged and can be used repeatedly, it is called a "battery."

It is also in 1860, France's George Leclanche also invented the predecessor of the world's widely used battery (carbon zinc battery). Its negative electrode is an alloy rod of zinc and mercury (the negative electrode of a zinc-volt prototype battery, which proves to be one of the best metals for the negative electrode material), and its positive electrode is a crushed two in a porous cup. a mixture of manganese oxide and carbon. A carbon rod was inserted into the mixture as a current collector. Both the negative electrode rod and the positive electrode cup were immersed in an ammonium chloride solution as an electrolytic solution. This system is called a "wet battery." The battery made by Lakeland was simple but cheap, so it was not until 1880 that the "dry battery" was replaced. The negative electrode is modified into a zinc can (ie, the outer casing of the battery), and the electrolyte becomes a paste rather than a liquid, which is basically the carbon zinc battery that we now know.

In 1887, the Englishman Helesen invented the earliest dry battery. Dry battery electrolyte is paste, no leakage, easy to carry, so it has been widely used.

In 1890 Thomas Edison invented a rechargeable iron and nickel battery.

In a chemical battery, the direct conversion of chemical energy to electrical energy is the result of spontaneous oxidation, reduction, and other chemical reactions within the battery. This reaction is carried out on two electrodes. Negative active substances consist of reducing agents that have negative potentials and are stable in electrolytes, such as active metals such as zinc, cadmium, and lead, as well as hydrogen or hydrocarbons. Positive active substances consist of oxidants with positive potentials and are stable in electrolytes, such as metal oxides such as manganese dioxide, lead dioxide, nickel oxide, oxygen or air, halogen and its salts, oxic acid and its salts.  Electrolytes are materials with good Ionic conductivity, such as aqueous solutions of acids, bases, and salts, organic or inorganic non-aqueous solutions, molten salts, or solid electrolytes. When the external circuit is disconnected, although there is a potential difference (open circuit voltage) between the two poles, there is no current, and the chemical energy stored in the battery is not converted into electrical energy. When the external circuit is closed, there is a current flowing through the external circuit under the action of the two electrode potential difference. At the same time, within the battery, because there are no free electrons in the electrolyte, the transfer of charge must be accompanied by the oxidation or reduction reaction of the interface between the polar active material and the electrolyte, and the material transfer of the reactants and reaction products. The transfer of charge in the electrolyte is also accomplished by the migration of ions. Therefore, the normal charge transfer and material transfer process inside the battery is a necessary condition to ensure the normal output of electrical energy. When charging, the direction of the internal transmission and mass transfer process of the battery is exactly the opposite of the discharge; The electrode reaction must be reversible in order to ensure the normal transfer of mass and electricity in the opposite direction. Therefore, the reversible electrode reaction is a necessary condition for the formation of a battery. G is Gibbs reaction free energy increment (Coke); F is Faraday constant = 96500 library = 26.8 An hour; N is the equivalent of the battery reaction. This is the basic thermodynamic relationship between the battery electromotive force and the battery reaction, and it is also the basic thermodynamic equation for calculating the battery energy conversion efficiency. In fact, when the current passes through the electrode, the electrode potential must deviate from the thermodynamic equilibrium electrode potential. This phenomenon is called polarization. The greater the current density (the current passing through the unit electrode area), the more severe the polarization. Polarization is one of the important causes of battery energy loss.

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