Battery
Arrangement of one or more than one cell connected in series.
Primary Battery Secondary Battery
• A battery cannot be recharged and • Used for storing electricity.
over a period of time battery • Can be recharged by passing
become dead and cannot be reused current in the opposite direction
again. and can be reused.
• Eg: Dry cell, mercury cell • Eg: Pb storage cell, Nickel cell
Dry cell
Anode : Zinc container
Cathode : ‘C’ rod surrounded by powdered MnO and carbon
2
Electrolyte: Moist paste of NH Cl and ZnCl
4 2
2+
Anode: Zn(s) Zn + 2e–
+
Cathode: MnO + NH +e MnO(OH) + NH
2 4 3
+
2MnO + 2NH +2e 2MnO(OH) + 2NH
2 4 3
Overall reaction:
+ 2+
2MnO + 2NH +Zn + 2e 2MnO(OH) + 2NH + Zn
2 4 3
2+ 2+
4NH + Zn [ Zn(NH ) ] (cell potential-1.5V)
3 3 4
Mercury cell
• Useful for low current devices like hearing aids, watches etc
Anode: Zn-Hg amalgam
Cathode: paste of HgO and ‘C’
Electrolyte: Paste of KOH and ZnO
-
At anode: Zn(Hg) +2OH ZnO + H O +2e
2
_
At cathode: HgO + H O +2e Hg + 2OH
2
Overall reaction:
Zn(Hg) + HgO ZnO + Hg (cell potential-1.35V)
Lead storage cell
Anode: lead
Cathode: Grid of lead packed with PbO2
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Electrolyte: 38% solution of H SO
2 4
→
At Anode: Pb + SO42- PbSO + 2e
4
At cathode: PbO2(s) + SO42–(aq) + 4H+(aq) + 2e– → PbSO4 (s) + 2H2O (l)
Net reaction: Pb + PbO + 2 H SO 2 PbSO + 2H O
2 2 4 4 2
On charging the battery the reaction is reversed and PbSO on anode and cathode is converted
4
into Pb and PbO2 respectively.
Ni-Cd cell
• Used in flash lights, photographic equipments, emergency lightning, portable
electronic device
• Longer life than Pb storage cell
• More expensive.
• Overall reaction:
Cd + 2Ni(OH) CdO + 2Ni(OH) + H O
3 2 2
Fuel cell
• In this kind of cell the chemical energy of fossil fuels like coal,gas or oil is initially
used to convert water into high pressure steam and is used to run a turbine to generate
electricity.
• Hydrogen and oxygen are bubbled using porous carbon electrodes into concentrated
aqueous sodium hydroxide solution.
• Finely splitted platinum or palladium metal are added to the electrodes for increasing
the rate of electrode reactions.
-
Cathode: O (g)+ 2H O(g) +4e 4OH (aq)
2 2
-
Anode: 2H (g) + 4OH (aq) 4H O(l) +4e
2 2
Overall reaction: 2H (g) + O (g) 2H O(l)
2 2 2
Advantages:
• Pollution free
• It produce electricity with an efficiency of about 70% compared to thermal plants
whose efficiency is about 40%
• Cell runs continuously as long as the reactants are supplied.
Corrosion
It is the formation of undesirable oxide,carbonate or sulphide when a metal is exposed to air
containing moisture and carbondioxide.
Eg:
• Rusting of Iron (Fe O xH O)
2 3. 2
• Formation of green coating over Cu objects due to basic copper
carbonate.[CuCO .Cu(OH) ]
3 2
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• Tarnishing of silver(Ag S)
2
Electrochemical Theory of Rusting
• Corrosion is an electrochemical phenomenon.
• At a particular spot of an object made of iron, oxidation takes place and the spot
behaves as anode
2+ o 2+ 3+
Anode: 2Fe (s) 2Fe + 4e E /
(Fe Fe )
• Electrons released at anode spot move through the metal and go to the another spot on
+
the metal and reduce oxygen in presence of H
+ o = 1.23V
Cathode : O + 4H + 4e 2H O E +/
2 2 (H O2/H2O
Overall Reaction:
+ 2+
2Fe (s) + O + 4H 2Fe + 2H O (1.67V)
2 2
• Further oxidised by atmospheric oxygen to form hydrated ferric oxide.
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