Batteries electrically rechargeable

Anode Primary Batteries Mechanically Rechargeable Batteries Electrically rechargeable batteries... 

Lead-acid accumulator — secondary (electrically rechargeable) battery employing a lead and a lead dioxide electrode see - accumulator. 

The iron/air cell is especially attractive as it can utilize resources that are virtually inexhaustible. Only electrically rechargeable batteries have been developed owing to the good reversibility of the iron electrode and cycling behaviour. 

Lead-acid battery (Gaston Plante) French physicist Plante invents the lead-acid battery, which led to the invention of the first electric, rechargeable battery. 

Electrically rechargeable batteries as energy source for electric vehicles are, however, the obsession of the developed part of the world, where the electricity supply is ample, the distribution network wide spread and the possesion of one s own garage with electric plugs a commonplace. 

Air or oxygen batteries can be classified as primary batteries or as mechanically or electrically rechargeable batteries. Battery types and applicable electrolytes are shown in Table 23.2 [3]. 

Electrically rechargeable batteries, like other conventional secondary batteries, can be recharged by electricity. Mechanically rechargeable batteries require the mechanical replacement of spent anode with fresh electrode. 

Galvanic cells in which stored chemicals can be reacted on demand to produce an electric current are termed primaiy cells. The discharging reac tion is irreversible and the contents, once exhausted, must be replaced or the cell discarded. Examples are the dry cells that activate small appliances. In some galvanic cells (called secondaiy cells), however, the reaction is reversible that is, application of an elec trical potential across the electrodes in the opposite direc tion will restore the reactants to their high-enthalpy state. Examples are rechargeable batteries for household appliances, automobiles, and many industrial applications. Electrolytic cells are the reactors upon which the electrochemical process, elec troplating, and electrowinning industries are based. 

By the time the next overview of electrical properties of polymers was published (Blythe 1979), besides a detailed treatment of dielectric properties it included a chapter on conduction, both ionic and electronic. To take ionic conduction first, ion-exchange membranes as separation tools for electrolytes go back a long way historically, to the beginning of the twentieth century a polymeric membrane semipermeable to ions was first used in 1950 for the desalination of water (Jusa and McRae 1950). This kind of membrane is surveyed in detail by Strathmann (1994). Much more recently, highly developed polymeric membranes began to be used as electrolytes for experimental rechargeable batteries and, with particular success, for fuel cells. This important use is further discussed in Chapter 11. 

Secondaiy batteries consist of a series of electrochemical cells. The most popular types are the lead-acid type used for starting, lighting, and electrical systems in motor vehicles and the small rechargeable batteries used in laptops, camcorders, digital phones, and portable electronic appliances. 

The demand for electrically operated tools or devices that can be handled independently of stationary power sources led to a variety of different battery systems which are chosen depending on the field of application. In the case of rare usage, e.g., for household electric torches or for long-term applications with low current consumption, such as watches or heart pacemakers, primary cells (zinc-carbon, alkaline-manganese or lithium-iodide cells) are chosen. For many applications such as starter batteries in cars, only rechargeable battery systems, e.g., lead accumulators, are reasonable with regard to costs and the environment. 

Battery manufacturers are producing more rechargeable batteries each year. The National Electrical Manufacturers Association has estimated that the U.S. demand for rechargeable batteries is growing twice as fast as the demand for nonrechargeable batteries. 

Problems of the metal-air batteries and air electrode are considered. Results of research, design work and development of the air - Zn primary and air-Al mechanically rechargeable batteries, as well as electrically rechargeable electrodes are presented. 

It is possible to divide the batteries with air electrodes into three following groups primary, mechanically and electrically rechargeable. In these batteries alkaline, saline and seawater electrolytes are used (Table 2). 

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