There is no perfect battery and each pack is tailored for a given use. Batteries in consumer products are optimized for long runtime, small size and low cost; longevity is less important. Industrial batteries may have high load capabilities and improved reliability, but the pack gets bulkier. A third variety offers long service life and these packs are expensive.
All batteries have one thing in common: they run for a while, need recharging and require an eventual replacement as the capacity fades. Battery replacement comes often before retiring the host. The idea of an uninterrupted energy source is still a pipedream.
When Was the Battery Invented?
Explore the earliest forms of batteries and the arrival of
electricity.
One of the most remarkable and novel discoveries in the last 400
years was electricity. We might ask, “Has electricity been around that long?”
The answer is yes, and perhaps much longer. Its practical use has only been at
our disposal since the mid to late 1800s, and in a limited way at first. Some
of the earliest public works gaining attention were streets lights in Berlin in
1882, lighting up the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893 with 250,000 light bulbs,
and illuminating a bridge over the river Seine during the Paris 1900 World Fair.
The use of electricity may go back further. While constructing a railway in
1936 near Baghdad, workers uncovered what appeared to be a prehistoric battery,
also known as the Parthian Battery. The object dates back to the Parthian
empire and is believed to be 2,000 years old. The battery consisted of a clay
jar that was filled with a vinegar solution into which an iron rod surrounded
by a copper cylinder was inserted. This device produced 1.1 to 2.0 volts of
electricity. Figure 1 illustrates the Parthian Battery.
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Figure 1: Parthian Battery.
A clay jar of a prehistoric battery holds an iron rod surrounded by a copper
cylinder. When filled with vinegar or electrolytic solution, the jar produces
1.1 to 2 volts.
Not all scientists accept the Parthian Battery as a source of
energy. It is possible that the device was used for electroplating, adding a
layer of gold or other precious metals to a surface. The Egyptians are said to
have electroplated antimony onto copper over 4,300 years ago. Archeological
evidence suggests the Babylonians were the first to discover and employ a
galvanic technique in the manufacturing of jewelry by using an electrolyte
based on grape juice to gold-plate stoneware. The Parthians, who ruled Baghdad
(ca. 250 BC), may have used batteries to electroplate silver.
One of the earliest methods to generate electricity in modern times was by
creating a static charge. In 1660, Otto von Guericke constructed an electrical
machine using a large sulfur globe which, when rubbed and turned, attracted
feathers and small pieces of paper. Guericke was able to prove that the sparks
generated were electrical in nature.
In 1744, Ewald Georg von Kleist developed the Leyden jar that stored static
charge in a glass jar that was lined with metallic foil on the inside and
outside of the container. Many scientists, including Peter van Musschenbroek,
professor at Leiden, the Netherlands, thought that electricity resembled a
fluid that could be captured in a bottle. They did not know that the two
metallic foils formed a capacitor. When charged up with high voltage, the
Leyden jar gave the gentlemen an unexplainable hefty shock when they touched
the metallic foil.
The first practical use of static electricity was the “electric pistol” that
Alessandro Volta (1745–1827) invented. He thought of providing long-distance
communications, albeit only one Boolean bit. An iron wire supported by wooden
poles was to be strung from Como to Milan, Italy. At the receiving end, the
wire would terminate in a jar filled with methane gas. To signal a coded event,
an electrical spark would be sent by wire to detonate the jar. This
communications link was never built. Figure 1-2 shows a pencil rendering of
Alessandro Volta.
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Figure 2: Alessandro Volta, inventor of the electric
battery.
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In 1791, while working at Bologna University, Luigi Galvani discovered that the
muscle of a frog would contract when touched by a metallic object. This
phenomenon became known as animal electricity. Prompted by these experiments,
Volta initiated a series of experiments using zinc, lead, tin and iron as
positive plates (cathode); and copper, silver, gold and graphite as negative
plates (anode). The interest in galvanic electricity soon became widespread.
Early Batteries
Volta discovered in 1800 that certain fluids would generate a continuous flow of electrical power when used as a conductor. This discovery led to the invention of the first voltaic cell, more commonly known as battery. Volta learned further that the voltage would increase when voltaic cells were stacked on top of each other. Figure 3 illustrates such a series connection.
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Figure 3: Volta’s experiments with the electric battery in
1796. |
In the same year, Volta released his discovery of a continuous source of electricity to the Royal Society of London. No longer were experiments limited to a brief display of sparks that lasted a fraction of a second; an endless stream of electric current now seemed possible.
France was one of the first nations to officially recognize
Volta’s discoveries. This was during a time when France was approaching the
height of scientific advancements. New ideas were welcomed with open arms as
they helped to support of the country’s political agenda. In a series of
lectures, Volta addressed the Institute of France. Napoleon Bonaparte
participated in the experiments, drawing sparks from the battery, melting a
steel wire, discharging an electric pistol and decomposing water into its
elements (see Figure 4).
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In 1800, Sir Humphry Davy, inventor of the
miner’s safety lamp, began testing the chemical effects of electricity and
found out that decomposition occurred when passing electrical current through
substances. This process was later called electrolysis.
He made new discoveries by installing the world’s largest and most powerful
electric battery in the vaults of the Royal Institution of London, connecting
the battery to charcoal electrodes produced the first electric light. Witnesses
reported that his voltaic arc lamp produced “the most brilliant ascending arch
of light ever seen.”
In 1802, William Cruickshank designed the first electric battery for mass
production. He arranged square sheets of copper with equal-sized sheets of zinc
placed into a long rectangular wooden box and soldered together. Grooves in the
box held the metal plates in position. The sealed box was then filled with an
electrolyte of brine, or watered-down acid. This resembled the flooded battery
that is still with us today. Figure 5 illustrates his battery workshop.
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Invention of the Rechargeable Battery
In 1836, John F. Daniell, an English chemist, developed an
improved battery that produced a steadier current than earlier attempts to
store electrical energy. In 1859, the French physician Gaston Planté invented
the first rechargeable battery based on lead acid, a system that is still used
today. Until then, all batteries were primary, meaning they could not be
recharged.
In 1899, Waldmar Jungner from Sweden invented the nickel-cadmium (NiCd) battery
that used nickel as the positive electrode (cathode) and cadmium as the
negative (anode). High material costs compared to lead limited its use.
Two years later, Thomas Edison replaced cadmium with iron, and this battery was
called nickel-iron (NiFe). Low specific energy, poor
performance at low temperature and high self-discharge limited the success of
the nickel-iron battery. It was not until 1932 that Schlecht and Ackermann
achieved higher load currents and improved the longevity of NiCd by inventing
the sintered pole plate. In 1947, Georg Neumann succeeded in sealing the cell.
For many years, NiCd was the only rechargeable battery for portable
applications. In the 1990s, environmentalists in Europe became concerned about
the harm incurred when NiCd is carelessly disposed. The Battery Directive
2006/66/EC now restricts the sale of NiCd batteries in the European Union
except for specialty industrial use for which no replacement is suitable. The
alternative is nickel-metal-hydride (NiMH), a more environmentally
friendly battery that is similar to NiCd.
Most research activities today revolve around improving lithium-based
systems, first commercialized by Sony in 1991. Besides powering
cellular phones, laptops, digital cameras, power tools and medical devices,
Li-ion is also used for electric
vehicles and satellites.
The battery has a number of benefits, most notably its high specific energy,
simple charging, low maintenance and being environmentally benign.
Electricity Through Magnetism
Generating electricity through magnetism came relatively late.
In 1820, André-Marie Ampère (1775–1836) noticed that wires carrying an electric
current were at times attracted to, and at other times repelled from, one
another. In 1831, Michael Faraday (1791–1867) demonstrated how a copper disc
provided a constant flow of electricity while revolving in a strong magnetic
field. Faraday, assisting Humphry Davy and his research team, succeeded in
generating an endless electrical force as long as the movement between a coil
and magnet continued. This led to the invention of the electric generator, as
well as the electric motor by reversing the process.
Shortly thereafter, transformers were
developed that converted alternating current (AC) to any desired voltage.
In 1833, Faraday established the foundation of electrochemistry on which
Faraday’s law is based. It relates to electromagnetism found in transformers,
inductors and many types of electrical motors and generators. Once the
relationship with magnetism was understood, large generators were built to
produce a steady flow of electricity. Motors followed that enabled mechanical
movement and Thomas Edison’s light bulb appeared to conquer darkness.
Early electrical plants produced direct
current (DC), with distribution limitations from the plant of no more than 3km
(~2 miles) in distance. In around 1886, the Niagara Falls Power Company offered
$100,000 for a method to transmit electricity over a long distance. When no one
responded, the world’s brightest minds met in London, England. The prize was
eventually given to Nikola Tesla (1856–1943), a Serbian immigrant who created
the AC transmission system.
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Figure 6: Nikola Tesla (1856–1943). |
DC systems run on low voltage and require heavy wires; AC could be transformed to higher voltages for transmission over light wires and then reduced for use. Older folks supported DC while younger geniuses gravitated towards AC. Thomas Edison was dead set against AC, giving danger by electrocution as a reason.
The disagreement
continued, but AC became the accepted norm that was also supported by Europe.
George Westinghouse, an American inventor and manufacturer, began developing
the Tesla system to the displeasure of Thomas Edison.
In 1883, Westinghouse created a lighting system for Niagara Falls using AC
current and to everyone’s amazement lit up the Chicago World Fair in 1893
(Figure 7). Westinghouse then built three large generators to transform energy
from the Niagara Falls to electricity. Three-phase AC technology developed by
Tesla enabled the transmission of electric power over great distances cheaply.
Electricity was thus made widely available to humanity to improve the quality
of life.
Figure 7: 250,000 light bulbs illuminate the Chicago World
Fair in 1893, also known as Chicago's World Columbian Exposition.
The success of the electric light led to
building three large hydro generators at Niagara Falls.
Source: Brooklyn Museum Archives.
Goodyear Archival Collection
Telecommunications by wire that was strung along railways
operated mostly by primary batteries that needed frequent replacement. Telex,
an early means to transmit data, was digital in that the batteries activated a
series of relays. The price to send a message was based on the number of relay
clicks required.
In the mid-1800s, telegraphy opened new careers for bright young men. Staff
operating these devices moved into the growing middle class, far removed from
mills and mines burdened with labor, dirt and danger. Steel magnate Andrew
Carnegie recalled his early days as a telegraphy messenger: Alfred Hitchcock
started his career as an estimator before becoming an illustrator.
The invention of the electronic vacuum tube in the early 1900s formed the
significant next step towards high technology. It enabled frequency
oscillators, signal amplifications and digital switching. This led to radio
broadcasting in the 1920s and the first digital computer, called ENIAC, in
1946. The discovery of the transistor in 1947 paved the way for the arrival of
the integrated circuit 10 years later, and the microprocessor that ushered in
the Information Age. This forever changed the way we live and work.
Humanity has become dependent on electricity and with increased mobility,
people gravitate towards portable power involving the battery. As the battery
improves further, more tasks will be made possible with this portable power
source.
