Rechargeable batteries have been around for centuries and are now a daily part of our lives. Today, we will explain how they function.
They’re still in our remote controls, radios, and toys today. Batteries have been entirely vital to us for decades, ever since the introduction of mobile phones.
When the first battery was discovered?
Batteries are devices that use chemical reactions to generate electrical energy.
Alessandro Volta, an Italian scientist, invented the first battery in 1799. To conduct the electric current, he stacked zinc and copper discs between which he inserted pieces of felt soaked in salted water.
As a result, the name of these devices is derived from the fact that the first one was constructed from a layer of metal discs.
Other battery designs emerged after the creation of the voltaic pile, some of which are still in use today with minor variations.
The lead-acid battery, created by Gaston Planté in 1859, is one of them. It’s the same battery that’s embedded in various internal combustion engines.
Another is Georges Leclanché’s dry battery; the alkaline batteries we use in remote controls have essentially the same design and functionality as Leclanché’s dry cell from 1868.
How Do Work Rechargeable Batteries ?
All batteries operate on the same principle: they must have two metal or metallic composite electrodes, as well as an electrolyte.
The conductors in the first voltaic battery were metal discs, and the electrolyte was salt, which was placed between the electrodes.
The chemical reaction that takes place inside a battery occurs between the electrodes: electrons travel from the negative to the positive pole, with the electrolyte assisting in their passage.
The electrons traveling in a battery make our appliances work because an electric current is a movement of charges.
There is just one option for non-rechargeable batteries. There is no more passage of electrons or electric current when the chemicals in the electrodes run out.
However, we have grown accustomed to rechargeable batteries.
Prior to the introduction of lithium-ion batteries in electronic gadgets, the lead-acid battery was one of the most common types of rechargeable battery. What happens in rechargeable batteries, regardless of their design, is that the chemical reaction can be reversed.
The reaction produces an electric current in one direction, and we give an electric current in the opposite direction to make it happen.
Unfortunately, battery do not fully recover after each charge and discharge cycle, therefore even rechargeable batteries have a shelf life.
They are, however, a far superior alternative to non-rechargeable batteries in terms of pollution.
Read more: How to Charge a Phone Battery Correctly
