Evolution of Battery Technology: 20th Century Battery Inventions (Part 3)
In Evolution of Battery Technology: The First Rechargeable Battery (Part 2), we saw the events leading to the development of the first rechargeable wet cell. While the curtains dawned upon the 19th century with the conception of alkaline battery, the stage was set for the 20th century battery inventions.
Humanity has seen more scientific breakthroughs than we could ever imagine in the 20th century. As an engineer, nothing would make me happier than to talk about every single one of those creations. However, I limit this article to the battery inventions during the miracle century.
The 20th century saw scientific and engineering advancements in multiple fields simultaneously. This propelled fabrication of various electrical, mechanical and electro-mechanical devices for common man. Hence, I believe the primary difference between the previous centuries and the 20th century (at least in the battery sector) was the mass commercialization of dry batteries.
The Early 20th Century
Alexander Graham Bell’s patents expired in 1893. Interestingly, the telephone manufacturers waited for this moment and deluged the consumer market with various telephones. In 1898, Conrad Hubert, the founder of Eveready Battery Company introduced a hand-held electric torch powered by dry cells.
Henry Ford’s model T equipped with the gasoline engine was another milestone in the first decade of the 20th century. It literally brought the luxury of cars to the masses.
The last two decades of the 19th century and the early 20th century witnessed many such technological advancements with telephone and automobile sectors taking the lead. Additionally, the invention of low-cost portable batteries paved the way for multiple house-hold electrical appliances.
Innovation in electrical devices led to battery inventions which in turn drove the developments in electrical appliance sector. It was a continuous positive feedback cycle where developments in one industrial sector drove the other. The improved versions of rechargeable wet batteries and primary zinc-carbon dry batteries continued to dominate electrical applications requiring portable power supply.
As time passed by, the defects in both the variants were becoming painfully apparent. In fact, the low shelf life of zinc-carbon batteries drastically dropped the sales of National Carbon Company. It seemed like the commercial battery industry stopped and desperately needed something new.
Inception of Battery Standards
Meanwhile, various organizations were established to maintain uniformity across battery producing nations in the early 20th century. Founded in France, in 1906, the International Electrotechnical Comission (IEC) oversees the development of various global standards for a variety of electrical devices.
Later, IEC restructured itself to form two additional committees. Established in 1933, TC21 is responsible to develop standards for rechargeable batteries. On the other hand, the second committee — TC35, established in 1933, develops battery standards for primary batteries. IEC issued the world’s first global standards in 1957.
Similarly, in 1919, National Bureau of Standards published the first set of rules defining battery sizes for US. Since then, the US based organization underwent restructuring multiple times starting with American Standards Association (ASA) in 1928. Today, it is known as American National Standards Institute (ANSI).
The organizations play a crucial role in eliminating unwanted miscommunication. Additionally, they ensure all new battery inventions and production of existing batteries adhere to strict safety standards.
Battery Inventions After 1950s
The dip in the rate of battery inventions was more than compensated by two noteworthy creations between 1950 and 1960. With the help of Lewis Urry and his team, the alkaline dry cell resurged in its new form and dethroned the zinc-carbon dry cells.
At the same time, the lead-acid battery also underwent interesting enhancements that enabled its renewal in the market.
Alkaline Batteries for Masses
Lewis Urry, Karl Kodesch and P.A. Marsal invented a new alkaline battery that lasted considerably longer than the zinc-carbon dry cells (Columbia Dry Cell). Initially, the battery consisted of a manganese dioxide cathode, a solid zinc anode and an alkaline electrolyte.
However, the battery could not provide sufficient usable power. So, they replaced solid zinc with powdered zinc to counter the problem and filed a patent in 1957. Thus, the anode was made of powdered zinc.
Next, Lewis marketed this battery to his managers at Eveready (previously National Carbon Company) by powering a toy car. The car operated for a longer duration as compared to its predecessor thus enabling Eveready to manufacture the battery in 1959.
Valve Regulated Lead Acid Battery (VRLA)
The valve regulated lead acid battery is a variant of the conventional lead acid battery. Although the chemistry is the same, the electrolyte is no longer a freely flowing liquid. Instead, an absorbing separator or a gel formed during the reaction limits the amount of electrolyte.
- Gel Cell — While the first VRLA gel cell was invented by Elektrotechnische Fabrik Sonneberg in 1937, Otto Jache invented the modern day usable version in 1957. Silica dust was (and still is) added to the sulphuric acid to form the gel.
- Absorbent Glass Mat (AGM) — As the name suggests, a fiberglass (glass mat) separates the electrodes of the cell. Cyclon, developed by Gates Rubber Corporation in 1972 was the first of its kind.
The two types of VRLA, namely, gel cell and the AGM limits the mobility of the electrolyte. Thus, it negates most of the hazardous effects of the conventional lead acid battery developed by Gaston Planté and his contemporaries. The lead acid batteries placed in today’s cars and motorcycles are VRLAs.
Commercialization and Explosion in Battery Inventions by Manufacturers
Although the first half of the 20th century reaped benefits from the battery inventions of previous century, the seeds of some of the giant battery manufacturers were sown during this period.
The second half experienced growth of the corporate seeds. Innovations and patents from a variety of then growing companies not just flooded but dominated the second half of the century. Following is a brief description of some of the leading battery manufacturers and their creations.
Eveready (now Energizer)
In 1917, Union Carbide acquired (some speculate they had a merger) National Carbon Company to form Eveready. The new company set in motion a series of batteries for a wide range of products benefiting the customers. During the era, many of them were the first of their kind.
The series began in 1955 with the world’s first mini batteries used for hearing aid (although they are gigantic when compared to the batteries used today). The next year, Eveready rolled out the first 9 V battery commonly used in smoke detectors. Eveready also introduced the first commercial watch battery and a Ni-Cd rechargeable battery in 1957 and 1958 respectively.
Duracell
In the early 1920s, Samuel Ruben, a scientist met Philip Rogers Mallory, a tungsten filament wire manufacturer and both saw an opportunity in batteries. Samuel improved the existing alkaline batteries by making them more compact and long lasting.
Most of the initial alkaline batteries produced were marketed under the brand Mallory for Kodak’s camera featuring a built-in flash. This led to the development of AAA size batteries and eventually superseded the then market leader — zinc-carbon dry cells.
As the focus shifted towards durable batteries, the founders renamed the company to “Duracell” in 1965. Today, Duracell is the leading manufacturer of alkaline batteries.
Fun Fact — Apollo 11 carried Duracell batteries and the batteries became the first to visit moon in 1969.
Panasonic
Founded by Konosuke Matsuhita in 1923 and formerly known as Matsuhita Industrial Co., Panasonic started its journey with electrical lamps in the 1920s. Matsuhita invented a square shaped lamp in 1927 whose annual sales surpassed 6 million units. The lamp kindled the demand for batteries thereby leading to the production of dry batteries specifically for the lamp in 1931.
The company expanded by producing lead acid batteries for civil applications and introduced the AR5–6 battery in 1937. A refers to automobiles, R signifies the rubber used for battery container, 5 denotes the use of five negative electrodes and finally, the number 6 represents 6 V.
The company continued its operations with zinc-carbon dry cells and lead acid batteries until the release of “National Hi-Top Battery” in 1963. The battery had twice the shelf life of its predecessor and complying with the size restrictions imposed by international standards. The company then decided to shift to alkaline dry batteries as well as nickel metal-hydride batteries with better capacities after 1970.
Battery Inventions During 1970s and Henceforth
The major drawback of nickel-cadmium batteries was its memory effect. For instance, if you charged the batteries to 80% of its full capacity, the batteries would remember the charging level and only charge to 80% the next time.
Moreover, the batteries were made of toxic materials hazardous to the environment. This catalyzed the development of the nickel metal-hydride and lithium based batteries during the late 1970s.
Nickel Metal Hydride (Ni-MH) Batteries
Research on nickel metal hydride batteries began in Battelle-Geneva research center in 1967. Interest in metal hydride batteries stemmed from a need to store hydrogen as an alternative source of energy. The initial developments of the cell was sponsored by Daimler-Benz and Volkswaen-AG.
Like nickel-cadmium batteries, the cathode of the Ni-MH batteries consisted of nickel and the electrolyte is an alkaline material (typically potassium hydroxide). The primary difference was the use of a special hydrogen-absorbing alloy instead of cadmium as the anode.
The alloy used to fabricate the anode in the preliminary versions was not stable and rapidly dissolved in the alkaline electrolyte. After multiple iterations, the anode fabrication involved chemically stable and economically feasible hydrogen absorbing alloys.
Due to these special electrodes, the cell reports a 30–40% higher energy and power densities as compared to nickel-cadmium batteries.
Lithium Based Batteries
The oil crisis during 1970s effectuated research work on lithium based batteries. Exxon mobile scientist, M. Stanley Whittingham started the quest of developing a rechargeable battery by using titanium sulphide and lithium electrodes. However, the experiment was a disaster causing an accidental fire.
In 1979, John B. Goodenough and Koichi Mizushima demonstrated a new type of rechargeable lithium cell using lithium cobalt oxide with a terminal voltage of 4 V. This was followed by the invention of lithium graphite anode by Rachid Yazami in 1980. The material was a popular choice until 2011.
Alan MacDiarmid and his team are credited with the development of, perhaps, the most famous battery in recent times — lihtium-ion battery. Subsequently, companies latched onto the novel battery technology and spurred its commercialization. Sony and Asahi Kasei started the race in 1990s and produced consumer grade lithium-ion batteries..
Conclusion
Both the latest entries to the list of battery inventions, nickel metal-hydride and lithium based batteries together dominate the entire modern day battery industry. Batteries will get better!
As a bonus, I’ll conclude the series with a short power-point summarizing the history of battery technology.
I hope everyone enjoyed reading the “Evolution of Battery Technology” series.
Thank you for your time!
Evolution of Battery Technology: The First Battery (Part 1)
Evolution of Battery Technology: The First Rechargeable Battery (Part 2)
References
[2] Concordia University, “Lead Acid Batteries”, Environmental Health and Safety, December, 2016
