Primary batteries charging

All major manufacturers of primary batteries warn that the batteries may leak or explode if they are charged. As discussed in Sec. 7.4, some primary batteries can be recharged if done under controlled conditions. Nevertheless, charging primary batteries is not usually recommended because of the potential hazards. 

Batteries, both primary and secondary, have become very big business indeed, which moreover is growing rapidly. Salkind (1998) in a concise overview of the entire domain of battery types and technologies, estimates that in 1996, the world market in the two types of battery combined totalled ss 33 billion dollars, and that the ratio of secondary to primary battery sales is steadily edging upwards. In spite of its poor charge density per unit mass, the lead-acid battery still accounts for more than a quarter of the total, because it costs so much less than its rivals and lasts well. 

There are two major types of electrochemical cells primary batteries and secondaiy, or storage, batteries. Primary hatteiy construction allows for only one continuous or intermittent discharge secondary hattei y construction, on the other hand, allows for recharging as well. Since the charging process is the... 

Another group of important battery characteristics are the lifetime parameters. For primary batteries and charged storage batteries, a factor of paramount importance is the rate of self-discharge. Self-discharge may be the result of processes occurring at one of the electrodes (e.g., corrosion of zinc in batteries with zinc anodes or the decomposition of higher metal oxides in batteries with oxide cathodes), or it... 

The compositions of composites are different for primary and rechargeable variants of batteries. In rechargeable variant it is necessary to have considerable mass of PANI for charging of battery without oxygen evolution. In primary variant it is enough to have a relatively small amount of PANI for creation of its quite thin layer at the conductive and stable graphite collector. Thus we have developed two main types of composite materials based on TEG and PANI (Table 4). 

The air gas-diffusion electrode possesses two advantages over the metal-oxide cathode in the conventional primary batteries infinite charge... 

A primary battery is a cell, or group of cells, for the generation of electrical energy intended to be used until exhausted and then discarded. Primary batteries are assembled in the charged state discharge is the primary process during operation. 

Nickel-cadmium sealed cells are now a commercially important consumer product. They find use, both as button and cylindrical cells, in portable cordless appliances such as power tools, electric razors and photoflash apparatus, and increasingly in hybrid mains/battery equipment such as portable tape recorders, radios and television receivers. Many of these cells are readily interchangeable with primary batteries. In recent years, advances in design have increased recharge rates cylindrical cells with sintered electrodes can now be fast charged from full discharge at up to the C/l rate of 80% of capacity. 

The commercialization of RAM cells has presented a rather novel type of power source to the consumer market. First, they are ready to use as purchased and retain their charge well until used or after charging (Fig. 6.19), and thus behave rather like a primary battery in this respect. Second, they are not much more expensive than an alkaline manganese primary and thus are very cost-effective, even if capacity fade limits their use to 20 or so cycles. It will be interesting to discover how deeply this new technology penetrates the primary cell market in the near future. 

In the following we adopt the usual distinction between devices that convert chemical in electrical energy but cannot be electrically charged again (primary batteries), metabolistic cells in which active masses are continually supplied and removed by gas flow (fuel cells) and cells that can be recharged electrically (secondary batteries). In all these cases great technological advances have been made and there exists a rich literature on these topics. 

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