Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Introduction to Batteries
A device which convert the stored chemical energy to
electrical energy and used as a source of power.
Anode
Negative terminal
Chemical oxidation occurs (lose electrons)
Separator
As barrier between cathode and anode
Example:
Alkaline battery
Zinc-carbon battery
Example 1: Alkaline Battery
Anode: zinc powder form
Cathode: manganese dioxide
Electrolyte: potassium hydroxide
Half reactions:
Overall reaction:
Zn(s) + 2MnO2(s) ZnO(s) + Mn2O3(s) [e = 1.43 V]
Example 2: Zinc-Carbon Battery
Anode: zinc metal body (Zn)
Cathode: manganese dioxide (MnO2)
Electrolyte: paste of zinc chloride and
ammonium chloride dissolved in water
Half-reactions:
Zn(s) Zn2+(aq) + 2e- [e = -0.763 V]
2NH4+(aq) + 2MnO2(s) + 2e-
Mn2O3(s) + H2O(l) + 2NH3(aq) +2Cl- [e = 0.50 V]
Overall reaction:
Zn(s) + 2MnO2(s) + 2NH4Cl(aq)
Mn2O3(s) + Zn(NH3)2Cl2 (aq) + H2O(l) [e = 1.3 V]
Comparison
Alkaline Battery Zinc-Carbon Battery
Zinc powder as anode Zinc body as anode
Can power all devices with high and low Only suitble for low-drain device
drains
Secondary Cell
Characteristics:
Rechargeable
Can be used for more than one time
Higher discharge rate
Mechanism:
When charging, the redox reaction is reversed by supplying external energy to the
battery.
Examples:
Nickel-Cadmium Battery
Lead-Acid Battery
Lithium-Ion Battery
Example 1: Nickel-Cadmium Battery
Anode: Cadmium hydroxide, Cd(OH)2
Cathode: Nickel hydroxide, Ni(OH)2
Electrolyte: Potassium hydroxide, KOH
Overall reaction:
Cd+2NiO(OH)2Ni(OH)2+Cd(OH)2
Example 2: Lead-Acid Battery
Anode: Porous lead
Cathode: Lead-dioxide
Electrolyte: Sulfuric acid, 6 molar H2SO4
Half-reactions:
Pb(s) + SO4 2-(aq) PbSO4 (s) + 2e-
PbO2(s) + 4H+(aq) + SO4 2-(aq) + 2e- PbSO4(s) + 2H2O(l)
Overall reaction:
Pb(s) + 2SO42-(aq) + PbO2(s) + 4H+(aq) 2PbSO4(s) + 2H2O(l)
Example 3: Lithium-Ion Battery
Anode: Graphite
Cathode: Lithium manganese dioxide
Electrolyte: mixture of lithium salts
Half-reactions:
CoO2 + Li+ + e- LiCoO2 [E = 1 V]
LiC6 Li+ + C6+ e- [E = 3.01 V]
Overall reaction:
CoO2 + LiC6 LiCoO2 + C6 [E = 4.01 V]
Comparison
Type of Battery Advantage Disadvantage
Nickel- Chemistry is stable and reliable Very expensive
Cadmium Still perform well after long period Materials are toxic
Battery storage. Recycling materials in battery is
limited.
Lead-Acid Longer life cycle Lead is heavier
Battery Environmental friendly Hazard to human because of
97% of lead can be recycle and high concentration of sulfuric
reused for new battery acid usage
Lithium-Ion High energy density (energy Cannot be recycled
Battery capacity per weight of battery) Ageing (performance gets lower
as increasing age)
Fuel Cell Introduction
Fuel cell directly convert chemical energy from continuous supplied
fuel to electrical energy.
Fuel can be hydrogen (H2) or methanol (CH3OH)
Fuel
Comparison
Fuel cell types can be divided in two ways:
Low Temperature High Temperature
Efficiency - 35 55%
Anode: C/Pt or Cathode: C/Pt
C/Raney Ni/Pt
O2 + H2O + 2e- HO2- + OH-
H2 + 2OH- H2O + 2e- HO2- + H2O + 2e- 3OH-
ADVANTAGE DISADVANTAGE
Low cost electrolyte Catalysts
solution (KOH 30-35%) Pt expensive
Pure gases only
Non-noble catalyst CO 2- builds up in
withstand basic conditions electrolyte and clogspores
CO2 + 2OH- CO32- + H2O
O2 kinetics faster in alkaline Fe sponges can be inserted
solution to absorb CO2
OH- v. H2O Circling electrolyte can slow
build up of CO32-
Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM)
Fuel Cell
Used by NASA for Gemini mission employed
polystyrene sulfonate polymer (unstable)
Nafion develop by Dupont
polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) backbone with
a perfluorinated side chain (more stable)
Ideal for transportation and portable power, the
size is small and low cost.
Efficiency : 35 60%
Anode: C/Pt Cathode: C/Pt
O2 + 2H+ + 2e- H2O2
H2 2H+ + 2e- H2O2 + 2H+ + 2e- H2O
Advantages Disadvantages
1. Non- 1. Slow O2
volatile kinetics
membrane 2. Hydration of membrane
is difficult (30-60%)
2. CO2 Formed at cathode, but
rejecting difficult to keep in
electrolyte membrane
Too little -dehydration
and loss of ion transport
3. Few Solutions
material Humidify gases
problems Impregnate Nafion with
SiO2 or TiO2
Direct Methanol Fuel Cell
An attractive future development is the Direct Methanol Fuel
Cell (DMFC).
- uses CH3OH as a fuel for fuel cells by reforming it into
hydrogen because of the capacity of safe hydrogen storage
and transportation that methanol provides.
Used in transportation.
Polymer membrane as electrolyte
- Anode catalyst draws the hydrogen directly from liquid
methanol (no reformer needed)
Efficiency : 40%
N
A
F
I
O
N