1、 Battery development history

01. From volt stack to Li ion battery

In 1799, Alessandro Volta, an Italian physicist, invented the first battery (vlotaic pile). He made the battery from zinc (anode) and copper (cathode) and paper (electrolyte) soaked in brine to prove that electricity can be manufactured artificially.

About 40 years later, John Frederic Daniel, a British chemist, solved the problem of hydrogen bubbles generated during the discharge of the volt stack by changing the form of the battery. At this time, the battery can reach 1V voltage.

In 1850, Gaston plant, a French physicist é The invention of lead-acid battery (anode is lead, cathode is lead oxide, sulfuric acid solution is electrolyte), using lead not only achieves very low cost, but also can provide 12V voltage, and can be recharged and recycled. This kind of battery is widely used, such as vehicle batteries and early electric vehicles. By 2014, about 44.7 million lead-acid batteries had been sold worldwide.

In 1899, Waldemar Jungner, a Swede, invented the nickel cadmium battery (nickel as cathode and cadmium as anode, using liquid electrolyte), that is, the rechargeable battery used in Walkman and four-wheel drive vehicle, which was often used when he was a child, laying a foundation for modern electronic technology. However, this kind of battery has a huge disadvantage, that is, the older generation often tells you the reason why the charging pool must be used up to charge. Due to its chemical characteristics, if it is charged before it is used up, there will be "cadmium poisoning" phenomenon, resulting in the battery "memory" of the "minimum charge", resulting in the reduction of the next full charge, so it is gradually eliminated by the market.

Around 1950, Lewis Urry, a Canadian engineer, invented the very common alkaline battery (zinc as anode, magnesium oxide as cathode, potassium hydroxide as electrolyte, which is the source of the name of alkaline battery), which is commonly used in daily life. Most of them are non rechargeable. Of course, there are also specially designed alkaline batteries that can be charged, It can even display the current charge by pressing the battery surface. More than 10 billion have been sold worldwide.

In 1989, the first commercial Ni MH battery came out (metal hydride or hydrogen storage alloy anode and nickel hydroxide cathode). It took more than 20 years to develop and was sponsored by Daimler Benz and Volkswagen. Through the new formulation, the energy density of Ni MH battery is higher than that of Ni Cd battery, and the pollution is reduced. More importantly, Ni MH batteries have no "memory effect", so there is no need to worry about the use of Ni Cd batteries. In addition to being widely used in digital products, it was also adopted by the early Toyota Prius hybrid electric car.

In 1991, Sony launched the first commercial lithium-ion battery (anode is graphite, cathode is lithium compound, electrode solution is lithium salt, soluble in organic solvent). Due to the high energy density and different formula of lithium battery, it can adapt to different use environment, so it is widely used now.