From the Baghdad Battery of 2,000 years ago to the Nano Diamond Battery being developed to serve our power needs of tomorrow, batteries have come a long way and have a long way to go.
1749 – The first recorded use of the term “battery” in the sense of an electrical device was by Benjamin Franklin. Franklin was performing a series of experiments using a set of Leyden jar capacitors wired in series.
1780 – Luigi Galvani discovers the effect of using different metals, such as copper and zinc, and an electrolyte solution. By sticking the two metals together and then touching them both to a frog leg he could make its muscles contract.
1800 – The first true battery was created by Alessandro Volta who stacked a series of copper, zinc, and saltwater-soaked-cloth discs which he called a Voltaic Pile. This salty electrolyte caused a reaction between the copper and zinc to produce a 0.76-volt cell. He was able to stack several of these cells to get multiples of this voltage. A similar effect can be had by sticking a penny and a zinc-coated nail into the flesh of a lemon.
1859 – Gaston Planté invents the lead-acid battery, the first rechargeable cell. This was the first leap forward because now batteries could be reused instead of discarded after a single discharge.
1899 – Wet-cell nickel-cadmium batteries were invented by Waldemar Jungner which stepped forward in capacity against its lead-acid counterpart. Jungner is also credited with wet-cell alkaline and nickel-iron batteries.
1903 – Thomas Edison patented Jungner’s nickel-iron battery in America
1906 – Jungner opened a factory to begin production of his batteries.
1946 – Nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd) batteries began being manufactured in the United States.
1955 – Lew Urry formulated the dry-cell alkaline battery which has carried on as one of the most popular batteries of today (for now).
1972 – The Gates Rubber Corporation patented the AGM (absorbent glass mat) battery. As an improvement to Planté’s flooded lead-acid battery, the glass mat is packed into the electrolyte to prevent sloshing and spilling.
1981 – Otto Jache’s and Heinz Schroeder patented the lead-acid gel battery using a silicone gel in place of the liquid electrolyte to further aid in handling vibration and other extreme forces.
1989 – Stanford R. Ovshinsky developed the nickel metal-hydride (NiMH) battery. This new formulation not only improved the energy density but also aided in Ni-Cd environmental hazards.
1991 – Akira Yoshino needed to develop a battery with sufficient energy and power density to keep up with wireless and portable trends. To this he presented the lightweight lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery which became superior to alkaline batteries in performance, but not in cost leaving them one step behind their predecessor at the time.
1996-to-Today – Lithium-ion derivatives continue development leading to lithium-ion polymer (LiPo) which provided customizable flexible cells that can be made into any shape required and are the leading battery type used in today’s mobile electronics.
With the rising prices of lithium, there has been a resurgence of development in sodium-ion (Na-ion) batteries that originally began in the 1970s. Despite having a lower energy density than the current Li-ion, Na-ion is still ahead of the Li-ion of just a few years ago while boasting several other advantages including a steep price difference of over 80%. Na-ion batteries are also safer being less flammable than their Li-ion counterpart. Some of the largest battery manufacturers are beginning mass production this year. It seems we have come full circle from Benjamin Franklin’s saltwater Leyden jars to this new sodium ion solution.
Peering into the next few years are possibilities such as nano diamond batteries making use of nuclear waste to form self-charging batteries that can last a lifetime.
We have come a long way, especially in recent years as our demand for mobile power surges higher. Every innovation has carried us further into dependability, capacity, and environmental compatibility. What new battery technology will power our tomorrow?