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Battery Developments

Inventions in the 1700s and 1800s are well documented and credit goes to the dignified inventors. Benjamin Franklin invented the Franklin stove, bifocal eyeglasses and

the lightning rod. He was unequaled in American history as an inventor until Thomas Edison emerged. Edison was a good businessman who may have taken credit for

inventions others had made. Contrary to popular belief, Edison did not invent the light bulb; he improved upon a 50-year-old idea by using a small, carbonized filament lit

up in a better vacuum. Although a number of people had worked on this idea before, Edison gained the financial reward by making the concept commercially viable to the

public. The phonograph is another success story for which Edison received due credit.

Countries often credit their own citizens for having made important inventions, whether or not they deserve it. When visiting museums in Europe, the USA and Japan one

sees such bestowment. The work to develop the car, x-ray machines, telephones, broadcast radio, televisions and computers might have been done in parallel, not

knowing of others advancements at that time, and the rightful inventor is often not clearly identified. Similar uncertainties exist with the invention of new battery systems,

and we give respect to research teams and organizations rather than individuals. Table 1 summarizes battery advancements and lists inventors when available.

Year Inventor Activity

1600 William Gilbert (UK) Establishment of electrochemistry study

1791 Luigi Galvani (Italy) Discovery of animal electricity

1800

1802

1820

1833

1836

1839

1859

1868

1899

Alessandro Volta (Italy)

William Cruickshank (UK)

Andr-Marie Ampre (France)

Michael Faraday (UK)

John F. Daniell (UK)

William Robert Grove (UK)

Gaston Plant (France)

Georges Leclanch (France)

Waldmar Jungner (Sweden)

Invention of the voltaic cell (zinc, copper disks)

First electric battery capable of mass production

Electricity through magnetism

Announcement of Faradays law

Invention of the Daniell cell

Invention of the fuel cell (H2/O2)

Invention of the lead acid battery

Invention of the Leclanch cell (carbon-zinc)

Invention of the nickel-cadmium battery

1901

1932

1947

1949

1970s

1990

1991

1994

1996

1996

Thomas A. Edison (USA)

Shlecht & Ackermann (D)

Georg Neumann (Germany)

Lew Urry, Eveready Battery

Group effort

Group effort

Sony (Japan)

Bellcore (USA)

Moli Energy (Canada)

University of Texas (USA)

Invention of the nickel-iron battery

Invention of the sintered pole plate

Successfully sealing the nickel-cadmium battery

Invention of the alkaline-manganese battery

Development of valve-regulated lead acid battery

Commercialization of nickel-metal-hydride battery

Commercialization of lithium-ion battery

Commercialization of lithium-ion polymer

Introduction of Li-ion with manganese cathode

Identification of Li-phosphate (LiFePO4)

2002 University of Montreal, Quebec Hydro, MIT, others Improvement of Li-phosphate, nanotechnology, commercialization

Table 1: History of modern battery development. No new major battery system has entered the commercial market since the invention of Li-phosphate in 1996.

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Comments

On June 23, 2011 at 3:35am

viswanathan sankaran wrote:

You have commented that

No new major battery system has entered the commercial market since the invention of Li-phosphate in 1996

What about the fuel cells and Vanadium Redox Flow batteries which are already commercialized ? There is no mention about the high temperature molten electrolyte sodium cell either?

On August 4, 2011 at 11:46pm

songfang wrote:

Really interesting !I learned a lot from it Thanks!

On November 20, 2011 at 10:17am

Reece wrote:

Thanks for the help. This helped me with my science fair

On June 5, 2012 at 1:36pm

Les wrote:

I work for an industrial supply company as a technical product support specialist. Often I receive many phone calls asking about batteries and their various types. Your site is extremely

thorough. I appreciate the work youve done. Thank you! It will be of tremendous help to me and my peers.

On May 18, 2013 at 3:17pm

Mastero101 wrote:

Very interesting know about the history of the batteries, but us miss one thing who invent the Li-ion, Li-Po batteries. l want to know who develope the batteries that we use every day.

On June 22, 2013 at 7:17am

JK DHANDE wrote:

I wish to know all about battery and battery technology.

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