Today, we decided to delve into the history of the alkaline battery. Who first thought of them? Who invented the miniature powerhouses in our CD players, digital cameras, lights, MP3 players, pagers, radios, and toys? We uncovered a trail of two legendary alkaline battery inventors.
Swiss engineer Waldemar Jungner developed a rechargeable alkaline silver-cadmium battery in He also built the first nickel-iron electric storage batteries, and nickel-cadmium cells. He was an inventive fellow with many other credits too. Wireless charging is inherently less efficient than wired charging. Of the two technology, inductive charging method is the more efficient one but only works at very close range, typically less than 1. Magnetic resonance charging, which was demonstrated by Intel for its Rezence wireless charging technology at its annual IDF conference, works even when the charger and the device are separated by several inches, but is not as efficient as inductive charging.
Currently there are two competing standards — the Qi standard which is championed by the Wireless Power Consortium, and PMA which is headed by the AirFuel Alliance which is made up to two formerly competing wireless standards.
While everyone is hoping that the two will merge, companies like Samsung have started supporting both wireless standards. History of the rechargeable battery. By Tan Kit Hoong. Auto 27 Sep Efforts to recycle EV batteries spreading. Lead acid batteries Invented as far back as by Gaston Plante, the lead-acid model is the first battery that could be recharged by running an electrical current back into it.
The acid battery works by having a lead anode and cathode in a sulphuric acid bath. This causes a reaction that releases electrons and produces lead sulfate. Power on tap: Batteries are tiny things which make a huge difference in our lives. Lead acid batteries are still used in cars, motorcycles and uninterruptible power supplies today. The relatively large size and dangerous chemicals used means its of limited use in handheld devices.
Because of the risk of overheating and possibly fire, lithium-ion battery packs are designed with terminals that are more difficult to accidentally short circuit. Article type: metered. Join our Telegram channel to get our Evening Alerts and breaking news highlights. Found a mistake in this article? Report it to us. She does a great job of explaining the environmental impact and ethical concerns involved in alkaline battery production along the way.
For the full story of the AmazonBasics battery, read the whole piece on OneZero. Subscribe to get the best Verge-approved tech deals of the week. Cookie banner We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from.
By choosing I Accept , you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. Cybersecurity Mobile Policy Privacy Scooters. Phones Laptops Headphones Cameras. These types of batteries are very sensitive to overcharging and overheating during charge, therefore the charge rate is controlled below a maximum rate. Sophisticated controllers can speed up the charge, without taking less than a few hours. Portable applications — such as mobile phones and laptop computers — are constantly looking for maximum, most compact stored energy.
While this increases the risk of a violent discharge, it is manageable using current rate limiters in the mobile phone batteries because of the overall small format. But as larger applications of batteries are contemplated the safety in large format and large quantity of cells has become a more significant consideration. Lithium is one of the lightest elements in the periodic table and it has one of the largest electrochemical potentials, therefore this combination produces some of the highest possible voltages in the most compact and lightest volumes.
This is the basis for the lithium-ion battery. In this new battery, lithium is combined with a transition metal — such as cobalt, nickel, manganese or iron — and oxygen to form the cathode.
During recharging when a voltage is applied, the positively charged lithium ion from the cathode migrates to the graphite anode and becomes lithium metal. The movement of electrons in the circuit gives us a current that we can use. Depending on the transition metal used in the lithium-ion battery, the cell can have a higher capacity but can be more reactive and susceptible to a phenomenon known as thermal runaway. In the case of lithium cobalt oxide LiCoO 2 batteries made by Sony in the s, this led to many such batteries catching fire.
The possibility of making battery cathodes from nano-scale material and hence more reactive was out of the question. But in the s Goodenough again made a huge leap in battery technology by introducing a stable lithium-ion cathode based on lithium iron and phosphate.
This cathode is thermally stable. It also means that nano-scale lithium iron phosphate LiFePO 4 or lithium ferrophosphate LFP materials can now be made safely into large format cells that can be rapidly charged and discharged. Many new applications now exist for these new cells, from power tools to hybrid and electric vehicle.
Perhaps the most important application will be the storage of domestic electric energy for households. The leader in manufacturing this new battery format for vehicles is the Tesla electric vehicle company, which has plans for building "Giga-plants" for production of these batteries.
The size of the lithium battery pack for the Tesla Model S is an impressive 85kWh. This is also more than enough for domestic household needs, which is why there has been so much speculation as to what Tesla's founder Elon Musk is preparing to reveal this week. A modular battery design may create battery formats that are somewhat interchangeable and suited to both vehicle and domestic applications without need for redesign or reconstruction. Perhaps we are about to witness the next generational shift in energy generation and storage driven by the ever-improving capabilities of the humble battery.
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