-
250 BCE
Baghdad Batteries
A series of artifacts that consist of a ceramic vessel, a copper tube, and an iron rod of Mesopotamian origin believed to be used as a "battery." -
Benjamin Franklin coins term "battery"
Benjamin Franklin coins the term battery when referring to an array of glass plates with a charge that he used to conduct his electricity experiments. -
Voltaic Pile Invented
Alessandro Volta invents the first wet cell battery by layering copper and zinc between layers of wet cloth soaked in a brine. The voltaic pile was able to produce a steady current of electricity but only for up to an hour. -
Period: to
Same Shtick, Different Pile
Design flaws in the Voltaic pile lead to innovations. William Cruickshank lays components in a box, instead of in a stack, to avoid electrolytes from being pressed out of the cell by the weight of the plates. Alessandro Volta also redesigns with a side by side design. William Sturgeon, coats plates in mercury to avoid zinc from degrading due to local action. -
Daniell Cell Invented
John Frederic Daniell used a second electrolyte solution to eliminate hydrogen bubbles on copper which increased resistance. The Daniell cell was made of an outer jar lined with copper and an unglazed earthenware inner jar with zinc inside. The two compartments allowed ions to pass through the porous holes of the divider but kept the electrolyte solutions to stay separated. Initially used to power communication devices with 1.1 volts of electricity. -
Period: to
Derivatives of the Daniell
Variations of the Daniell cell are invented. The Bird cell was invented by Golding Bird in 1837 and used plater of paris to create the barrier between solutions. Another was the porous pot cell in 1838 by John Dancer. A more expensive variation was invented in 1839 by William Grove, and used platinum as the cathode instead of copper, but delivered high current and almost double the voltage when new. In 1842 Johann Poggendorff used chromic and sulfuric acid to create the Poggendorff cell. -
First Rechargeable Battery
Gaston Planté invents the lead-acid battery which can be recharged by passing a reverse current through it. Both cathode and anode are lead based, the anode being just lead and the cathode being lead dioxide. When submerged in sulfuric acid, both electrodes make the same reaction and create lead sulfate, but the anode releases electrons and the dioxide absorbs them. Used to power train car lights. Variations of this are still used as car batteries today. -
The Gravity Cell
A simple more popular version of the Daniell cell is invented by a Frenchman named "Callaud" which used a glass jar filled with a copper cathode at the bottom and a zinc anode at the top. Copper sulfate is added to the bottom. Distilled water fills the jar. Current is drawn and creates zinc sulfate layer at top. Polarity and density differences keep the two solutions separate and can be easily checked to determine life of the battery via color difference. Used in US telegraph systems until 1950s -
The First Dry-Cell
Georges Leclanché originally invented a zinc and manganese battery that was filled with ammonium chloride as an electrolyte solution but shortly redesigned his battery with a paste instead of a liquid. Could be sealed. This resulted in a more stable, transportable battery. Short use of current due to reaction in the cell that increased internal resistance. Used for early telephones. -
Lead-Acid Improvement
Camille Alphonse Faure invents an improved version of the lead-acid battery which pressed lead dioxide into plates along with strips of lead metal laid through it. This increased surface area to the electrodes and offered more current to be passed and longer battery life. These plates could be stacked as well to increase output. -
Simplified and Dried
Carl Gassner improves the Leclanché cell by adding zinc chloride to the ammonium chloride paste to increase its shelf life as well as sealing the cathode and paste into a zinc shell which acted as the anode. This creates a long lasting powerful battery with a potential of up to 1.5 volts. -
Mass Production
The National Carbon Company designs a simplified version of Gassner's dry cell that used coiled cardboard instead of plaster of paris, making it more easy to assemble and giving more surface area to the cathode. This was the first mass produced battery which made portable devices a possibility for many people. Led to the invention of the flashlight. -
NiCD: The First Alkali
Waldermar Jungner invents the nickel cadmium battery containing potassium hydroxide as its electrolyte, making it an alkaline battery, the first of its kind. Rechargeable. Offered better energy density than lead-acid batteries. Much more expensive. -
Edison Battery
Thomas Edison used Waldermar Jungner's design of an alkaline battery to redesign and replaced the cadmium with iron and potassium hydroxide with potassium chloride to reduce the cost. These were used used storage devices as they could withstand more extreme conditions of overcharge and undercharge. Sold through the 70s. -
Experimentation with Lithium Begins
G.N. Lewis begins working with lithium as a potential for electrodes. Lithium has a low density, a high electrochemical potential, and high energy to weight ratio. Small ions allow for faster diffusion through the electrolyte solution. -
Solar Battery
Gerald Pearson, Calvin Fuller, and Daryl Chapin invent the first solar battery made of silicone strips that caught free electrons from the sunlight and turned them to an electric current. -
The Rise of Alkaline
Lewis Urry designs the manganese zinc alkaline battery when being tasked with improving the lifespan of zinc-carbon batteries by the Eveready Battery Company. Urry decided that alkaline batteries offered more benefits and abandoned his original task to invent his own. -
Mr. Ovshinsky & The Batts of NiMH
Physicist, Stanford R. Ovshinsky, creates the nickel metal-hydride battery which outperforms the NiCD battery in energy density and lifespan as well as proves better for the environment. Used in electric and hybrid vehicles. -
Electrode Innovations
John B. Goodenough discovers lithium cobalt oxide, the cathode for lithium ion batteries today. Rachid Yazami discovers graphite as an anode with solid electrolyte. -
Electrolyte Experiment
Japanese researchers, Tokio Yamabe and Shizukuni Yata, develop a polyacenic semiconductor (PAS) that can act as an electrolyte solution for both positive and negative electrodes in lithium batteries. -
Prototype of the Future
Using the discoveries of Goodenough, Yazami, Yamabe, and Yata, Akira Yoshino develops the prototype for the first lithium ion battery (Li-ion) with a team of researchers. -
Sony Introduces first Li-Ion Batteries
Sony manufactures the first Li-Ion battery. -
Graphene
Discovered by The University of Manchester, graphene shows potential to be more effective than lithium as an active material in batteries.