A Review of Highlights in Battery Development in Relation to Advances in Physical Electrochemistry

摘要

A variety of developments in Applied Science have come about from empirical discoveries on which are then built rational and systematic advances arising from scientific understanding of the initial discoveries. Conversely, some fundamental discoveries arising from systematic scientific basic research have sometimes found valuable applications not initially envisaged as, for example, quantum-physics leading to the laser, Faraday's work on electromagnetism leading to motors and dynamos, and catalysis concepts of Berzelius leading to petroleum cracking, oil refining and fuel-cells; in the present context, Galvani's work on bio-electricity, through Volta, to battery development. In this paper, we refer to advances in the fundamental aspects of electrochemistry of the kind referred to as "Physical Electrochemistry", recognised as a distinguishable subject area by the Electrochemical Society, through its Division of Physical Electrochemistry. We illustrate how basic advances in that field have been involved in the development of battery science and engineering, and the materials science of battery chemistry. An interesting initial and historical example of the relation between basic ideas and early devices, and future major applications, is the design of Volta's "Pile" [2] (1800) which was the first embodiment of a bipolar battery, albeit without seals around the peripheries of the active plates and paper separators. It is noteworthy that it took some 150 years for "bipolar" electrode configurations to be employed in practical battery design, with advantages of a) improved volume energy-density of a given electrode couple and b) diminished internal or overall ohmic resistance, improving power delivery capability. It is significant that Vinal's well known monograph (4th edition, 1955) on Storage Batteries does not appear to mention bipolar electrode designs. Series and parallel, and series-parallel groupings of cells are treated and factors determining internal and overall resistances of batteries are dealt with, but bipolar design, and the advantages thereof, are unrecognised. Of course, practically, good edge seals are a basic requirement in a multi-cell bipolar battery to avoid current leakage and resulting self-discharge.