Alkaline-manganese dioxide primary batteries performance

FIGURE 10.23 Performance characteristics of premium zinc/alkaline/manganese dioxide primary batteries AA-size (a) Discharge characteristics at various current drains to specified end voltages, (b) Discharge characteristics at various resistance drains to specified end voltages. 

Figure 5. Performance of D-size zinc-manganese dioxide primary systems under 2.25 Q continuous test a) standard Leclanche cell (natural ore), b) high-power Leclanche cell (electrolytic MnOa), c) zinc chloride cell, d) alkaline manganese cell [1] (by permission of Arnold C.A. Vincent, B. Scrosati, Modern Batteries. An Introduction to Electrochemical Power Sources, 2nd edition, Edward Arnold, London, 1997).

Recent emphasis on the performance of the primary alkaline manganese dioxide battery has been directed toward improving its high-rate performance to meet the requirements of the new digital cameras and other portable electronics. The new high-rate (Ultra or Premium) battery was first sold in 2000 and already commands about 25% of the market. 

During this period, the zinc/alkaline manganese dioxide batery began to replace the zinc-carbon or Leclanche battery as the leading primary battery, capturing the major share of the US market. Environmental concerns led to the elimination of mercury in most batteries without any impairment of performance, but also led to the phasing out of those batteries. 

Increases in the energy density of primary hatteries has tapered off during the past decade as the existing battery systems have matured and the development of new higher energy batteries is limited by the lack of new and/or untried battery materials and chemistries. Nevertheless, advances have been made in other important performance characteristics, such as power density, shelf life and safety. Examples of these recent developments are the high power zinc/alkaline/manganese dioxide batteries for portable consumer electronics, the improvement of the zinc/air battery and the introduction of new lithium batteries. 

The alkaline zinc-manganese dioxide ceU was introduced in 1959 as a high-performance primary cell to replace the Leclanche (carbon-zinc) cell that was developed by Georges Leclanche in 1860 and is still the battery of choice in the developing countries because of its low cost. The zinc chloride cell was introduced... 

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