The Great Old Alkaline Battery4700297
All of us know about the good old alkaline battery as assured inside the course of our lives is the use of these cells to power any number of devices in and about the house. The alkaline battery was first introduced in the early 60's, as a solution to portability problems within industrial installations, but of course with the explosion of the portable market and carry all gadgets, these had been then introduced to the customer market in the truck loads and the revolution of energy started from there.
They come in two types - usually they are either rechargeable or disposable and they are made up of a number of materials that can include either zinc, iron and manganese oxide. The chemical make up of the batteries differ greatly from the old zinc chloride batteries, and where they may contain the exact same voltage as these batteries, the one benefit that they do have is that the have a a lot larger energy density and the self drain status is much reduce than the zinc chloride counterpart. This means that you can keep your alkaline batteries on the shelf for a lot longer before it drains all the power away via regular electrical decay. The reason they are known as alkaline batteries is because they have an alkaline inside the battery matrix made of potassium hydroxide, which is far different from the acidic electrolyte used in the older zinc chloride and carbon batteries.
Within this the negative terminal, or the anode, is made of a material of zinc powder, which provides the aspect of the battery much much more surface area and a greater price of reaction for great electron flow, and it also consists of a positive terminal, or a cathode that is made from manganese. The capacity of the battery is fairly standard fare, with 1.5 volts being the normal rating that you would get, but because of the denser energy storage inside the cells, it can last up to 5 times longer than older zinc batteries. 1000mA is the regular current that can be provided by the alkaline battery, and that increases with size. Higher rated and larger alkaline batteries like the D and C cells, are a lot bigger and have a lot larger present storage. One factor you should note about the alkaline battery is that over time and misuse, there might be leakage issues.
This is fairly typical and the leakage of the battery usually is the potassium hydroxide, which when coming into contact with the skin, can cause issues and irritations. What ever you do, do not mix battery types and recharge batteries not meant to be recharged - a well as storing them correctly and maintaining them out of the heat. As of late, the alkaline battery is being replaced with the more costly and much much more effective lithium ion battery but we should not neglect the many years that the great old alkaline battery has served the globe of portable gadgets and electronic devices nicely and will continue to as a inexpensive alternative to the more pricey solutions out there.
