Talk:Alkaline battery

Zinc powder? Incorrect?

"In an alkaline battery, the anode (negative terminal) is made of zinc powder (which allows more surface area for increased rate of reaction therefore increased electron flow) and the cathode (positive terminal) is composed of manganese dioxide."

I just opened a big stack of them, the zinc is the solid outer casing, cathode. Then the manganese powder, then the carbon rod, anode button.

I'm attempting to make electroluminescent & glow in the dark materials. Zinc casing dissolved in sulphuric, reduced to sulphide using sulphur from the pet shop. Manganese reduced with the carbon electrode (coke) method to manganese. Dope the sulphide with a little manganese, suspend in some form of resin, spin, dry, illuminate in an electrostatic field. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.24.47.178 (talk) 15:47, 23 September 2010 (UTC)

"A cylindrical cell is contained in a drawn steel can, which is the cathode current collector."

It isn't steel. First of all, I can tear it with my hands. Secondly, I can melt it without too much difficulty. Thirdly, it reacts with sulphuric a lot quicker than iron.

"The paste may be pressed into the can or deposited as pre-molded rings."

Is this some sort of new generation battery? Because all the, new, ones I've opened don't look like this inside, at all. It's just casing, powder, rod.

"The separator is made of a non-woven layer of cellulose or a synthetic polymer. The separator must conduct ions and remain stable in the highly alkaline electrolyte solution."

All the ones I've opened have what looks like card / paper on the inside wall of the zinc casing, acting as the separator.

"The anode is composed of a dispersion of zinc powder in a gel containing the potassium hydroxide electrolyte."

The anode is carbon. The cathode is zinc.

"When describing standard AAA,AA, C, sub-C and D size cells, the anode is connected to the flat end while the cathode is connected to the end with the raised button."

That's just flat out :) wrong. The flat is the cathode, the button is the anode. Even the articles you linked to show that. In fact, the picture at the top of the article shows it.

Are you sure you're taking apart an alkaline battery? They usually don't have the carbon rod and zinc can. Certainly when I dug out some AA cells from a flashlight that had been left in a drawer for years, I didn't find any carbon rods. The cathode is manganese dioxide, the carbon rod or nail is just a current collector and not part of the reaction. Positive terminal of a flashlight battery is the top button connected to the nail and cathode (manganese dioxide paste), negative terminal is the bottom of the battery, which is connects to the nail and zinc anode material. --Wtshymanski (talk) 16:11, 23 September 2010 (UTC)

Revised the above which was wrong. --Wtshymanski (talk) 21:48, 29 September 2010 (UTC)

simple science

There is plenty of good simple science in batteries.

• Chemistry: ion flow, membrane properties and tradeoffs, redox potential
• Physics: energy density, capacity dependancies, internal resistance,
• History: lineage

Compare and contrast with Zinc carbon battery - article needed for this, and with Lithium battery too.

Bear in mind http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battery_%28electricity%29

Chemistry

The definition of anode / cathode may be confusing. Refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anode#Battery_or_galvanic_cell_anode for further discussion on this topic. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 134.134.136.2 (talk) 18:05, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

An expert needs to verify this, but I think that one of the reasons for the zinc (in the form of a powder) making up the cathode is to minimize the self-discharge rate of the cell. A solid cathode immersed in an electrolyte has surface areas of different electronegativity, in part due to differing concentrations of contaminants in the zinc, so the more-electronegative areas self-discharge (corrode) and the electrons flow (through the solid electrode) to the less-electronative areas, which electrolyze hydrogen gas. This amounts to self-discharge of the battery. Forming the cathode into a powder minimizes this effect. Example United States Patent 4136236. Jamesdbell8 (talk) 03:31, 18 July 2012 (UTC)

Voltage

Added "approximately" to voltage. An alkaline cell produces 1.58 volts. I'll have to look up carbon-zinc, don't know it off the top of my head. Rsduhamel 07:16, 28 Dec 2004 (UTC)

temperature limitations?

What are the temperature limitations on alkaline batteries? What happens when you exceed them? - Brewthatistrue 22:09, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Goes boom and expells murcury gas...read the article...Kr5t 22:48, 21 May 2006 (UTC)

Where does it say anything about mercury gas? --Newton21989 01:55, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

Scroll down. --User:HaxOr｜HaxOr <% =now %> —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.162.44.48 (talk) 02:15, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Usage

Alkaline batteries are preferred for voltage sensitive electronic devices. The output voltage does not drop until totally drained of useful energy. Carbon-Zinc cell output voltage will consistently drop as energy is used which will result in erratic low voltage operation of electronic equipment, hence the alkaline requirement on most electronic equipment.

62 words ~ WOW

"Once a leak has formed due to corrosion of the outer steel shell, potassium hydroxide absorbs carbon dioxide from the air to form a feathery crystalline structure of potassium carbonate that grows and spreads out from the battery over time, following along metal electrodes to circuit boards where it commences oxidation of copper tracks and other components, leading to permanent circuitry damage."

This has to certainly be the longest run-on sentence on the whole Internet.

Environmentalism

What is the impact of modern alkaline batteries on the environment? The fact that there is no longer mercury added to them helps, being a heavy metal, but are there any other traces of heavy metals in alkaline batteries?

There still is mercury...Kr5t 22:48, 21 May 2006 (UTC).

However at the site: www. duracell.com it reads that they have not had mercury in their batteries since they voluntarily discontinued producing them with it in 1993. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 67.142.130.40 (talk • contribs). 18 nov 2006

I'm not very familiar with battery recycling, but it seems that this would be something good to add. Maybe some guidelines on proper battery disposal too. Update: I added a link on battery recycling which I thought was informative. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.117.254.131 (talk • contribs). 4 Aug 2006

Can anyone put these compunds into english please?

Self recharging

After letting used batteries sit for a while they seem to partially recharge (although it doesn't last long). How does this happen? What are the results, etc? Is it dangerous to use a battery up like this? Thanks --32.97.110.142 17:18, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

The battery doesn't really recharge. Here's an explanation for this curious effect. I just noticed this as well when using a (cheap) alkaline battery in a 1xAAA high drain flashlight. NiMH batteries don't sag as quickly, and they do not noticeably recover either. Aragorn2 (talk) 12:31, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

White crystals

Sometimes alkaline batteries leak, a clear fluid. But sometimes white crystal powder forms at one end. It seems to corrode contacts. What exactly is this white material, what exactly causes it, how can it be avoided, and what contact materials are most resistant to corrosion? -69.87.193.60 17:27, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

• I've had this happen many times while recharging alkaline batteries. This is potassium hydroxide and in my experience, has not seemed to cause any damage to myself or objects it comes in contact with. My advice, to be safe, is just wipe it up with a paper towel, or likewise and throw the battery (It's no good after it pops.) and the towel into a trash container.

The liquid is Potassium Hydroxide solution which is corrosive. For a description of the powder see similar comments here Talk:Nickel–cadmium_battery#White_powder_-_cell_leakage - the powder is potassium carbonate, which is also corrosive. John a s (talk) 00:17, 18 September 2011 (UTC)

Recycling

Information is needed about recycling and disposal practices for alkaline batteries, in various countries around the world. -69.87.193.60 17:27, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Capacity and Current

There seems to be a contradiction between the Capacity section saying that loads of 1000mA can reduce the energy content due to internal heating and the Current section saying that a AA battery can deliver 1000 mA without significant internal heating. Am I missing something? --Nathan24601 (talk) 20:50, 24 February 2008 (UTC)

Anode or cathode

Isn't manganese dioxide the cathode? It says the anode.. but manganese dioxide is gaining electrons and is the cathode in the battery? Am I wrong? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.88.108.79 (talk) 14:34, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

History

When were ordinary AA/AAA/C/D batteries first commonly sold? -69.87.203.130 (talk) 00:43, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Rechargeable Alkaline Batteries

I noticed there is not a separate article on these, only an article on recharging standard disposable alkaline batteries. In what ways are rechargeable alkaline batteries different than disposable alkaline batteries? Obviously, other than the ability to recharge. Is the difference in the battery, or in the charger, or in both? When Rayovac released the Renewal line of rechargeable alkaline batteries in 1993 I had a suspicion they had simply created a "smart" charger that could safely recharge any alkaline battery and that the batteries themselves were nothing more than overpriced relabeled versions of their disposable line since they were packaged fully charged. I could be completely wrong on this since I was only 12 at the time and also thought connecting two 9-volt batteries together made a convenient hand warmer. I was a very lucky kid who had great success in recharging my used disposable alkaline batteries in my Ni-Cad charger. By success I mean I never hurt myself or my Game Boy, not that the recharged battery ever lasted very long.

By the way, this is my very first post in Wikipedia so I apologize if I have done so incorrectly. Rlsaine (talk) 18:40, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

There is now a separate article, see Rechargeable alkaline battery. Biscuittin (talk) 18:55, 13 October 2009 (UTC)

It's just a stronger case and slightly different chemicals. Standard cells can be recharged safely with a smart enough charger. (Though I still wouldn't recommend it) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.142.175.21 (talk) 00:40, 20 February 2013 (UTC)

Category

I noticed that Twinzor reverted my category removal - see this edit. However, I removed the category from the article because Category:Disposable batteries is actually a subcategory of Category:Electric batteries. Thus I was just following the categorisation editing guidelines. Point 3 suggests that "Usually, articles should not be in both a category and its subcategory." Thus I have reremoved the category, as per the guideline. - Tbsdy lives (talk) 07:19, 30 August 2008 (UTC)

I apologize for that. My edit was due to me not notising disposable batteries was a category of electric batteries, and also because I misunderstood Tbsdy lives's edit summary "remove category - articles should only be part of one category, and only then should be in the narrowest one". Seeing the situation now with the categories as it is and what Tbsdy meant in the summary, I completely agree with his edit. I'll remind myself to double check things before I make such edits in the future. :) --Twinzor (talk) 20:28, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

No probs :-) I do find it somewhat hard to make it clear what I'm doing in just one edit summary line. - Tbsdy lives (talk) 05:46, 4 September 2008 (UTC)

Pronounciation

There seems to be a dispute on whether "A" or "An" should be used with AA batteries. The Wikipedia article on AA battery gives Double A as the only pronounciation, altough I've certainly heard it pronounced as just A A as well. However, since the relevant article give the pronounciation double A and uses "A AA", weird as it seems, I think we should use the same style for consistency. Thoughts? — Twinzor ^{Say hi!} 18:47, 30 January 2009 (UTC)

Leaking ... why does it leak out? Internal cell pressure?

Generally most batteries are sealed or have one-way gas vents, so it is unclear to me how the acid manages to leak out without there being another hole somewhere else for air to enter, in place of the leaking fluid. Most batteries are in plastic cases so I don't see how absorption out of the battery could be occurring.

What causes the fluid to seep out?

DMahalko (talk) 02:58, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

Alkali, not acid. The "Handbook of Batteries" says that zinc in the battery will dissociate water and make hydrogen gas, also that the products of the reactions change in density. Either one of these would increase pressure inside a cell and make it bulge and leak. Simple gravity probably accounts for the rest once a hole gets rusted through the sheet metal jacket of the cell. --Wtshymanski (talk) 17:12, 5 April 2009 (UTC)

built-in testers

Does anyone else remember these from the 90s? A little strip on the side that would glow when a button was pressed to indicate the remaining capacity. Definitely a drain on the cell as they would get hot. If anyone can come up with a source I think it would be a nice addition to the article. Btyner (talk) 14:09, 22 August 2009 (UTC)

Battery names

This is not a re-naming proposal but a suggestion that more explanation is needed. The term "alkaline battery" in everyday use means a primary cell of the zinc/manganese/alkali type. However, secondary cells of the nickel/iron/alkali and nickel/cadmium/alkali types are also alkaline batteries. Can we make this clear without generating confusion? Biscuittin (talk) 19:09, 13 October 2009 (UTC)

If anyone routinely called anything other than a zinc/manganese dioxide/ potassium hydroxide system an "alkaline battery", maybe there would be a reason to provide more explanation. Theoretically confusing, in practice, everyone knows which is which. --Wtshymanski (talk) 04:02, 29 November 2009 (UTC)

I agree more explanation is required. Some books list many non-zinc types as 'alkaline' and this article has a picture of Nickel–iron battery in the history section. - Rod57 (talk) 02:01, 11 November 2014 (UTC)

Unified layout

On other articles about battery tech (like: Lithium-ion_battery and Zinc_air). There is a table about properties like energy/weight energy/size, etc. After searching through this article I was unable to find those values. If someone (including me of course) finds a good source, please add :) Dorit82 (talk) 03:41, 29 November 2009 (UTC)

Move

The following is a closed discussion of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the proposal was consensus against move

Alkaline battery → Alkaline electrochemical cell — The electrochemical battery is simply a pair of electrochemical cells. this article deals around how this type of cell works. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.245.90.148 (talk • contribs) 11:58, 9 October 2009

• Oppose. Just wrong. This is one of several *highly dubious* renamings proposed by this IP address. There's no need to give encyclopedia articles obscure names when the common name is accurate and sufficient. --Wtshymanski (talk) 14:33, 9 October 2009 (UTC)
• Oppose, this is at the common name and should remain. ~~ GB fan ~~ ^talk 15:19, 9 October 2009 (UTC)
• Strong Oppose and suggest speedy close (is that possible?). This is not what the general public would be looking for. HumphreyW (talk) 15:25, 9 October 2009 (UTC)
• Oppose WP:COMMONNAME 76.66.197.30 (talk) 16:12, 9 October 2009 (UTC)
• Oppose The term "battery" is almost always used by consumers, battery manufacturers, etc. TJ Spyke 17:29, 9 October 2009 (UTC)

Move discussion in process

There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Lead-acid battery which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RFC bot 00:00, 11 October 2009 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Anode and cathode

Quoting the battery handbook for reference:

Powdered

zinc is used for the anode to provide a large surface area for high-rate capability (that is, to reduce current density) and to distribute solid and liquid phases more homogeneously (to minimize mass-transport polarization of reactant and product). On discharge, the manganese dioxide cathode undergoes at first a one-electron reduction

to the oxyhydroxide...

(David Linden, Thomas B. Reddy (ed). Handbook Of Batteries 3rd Edition. McGraw-Hill, New York, 2002 ISBN 0-07-135978-8 Chapter 10, page 10.3-10.4 )

because I sometimes don't have it handy when I need to revert the vandals. --Wtshymanski (talk) 22:49, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

leaking

Hi, when the pottasium hydroxide is leaking out it is not forming crystals. It is reacting with CO2 from air and forms Potassium carbonate (: 2KOH + CO₂ → K₂CO₃ + H₂O ). It is also corrosive and the reaction takes some time so the pottasium hydroxide is destroying surroundings as well.

I'm not so much advanced in english so i don't want to edit directly. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.176.57.105 (talk) 18:03, 21 March 2010 (UTC)

Assessment

A fresh new tag calls this "start" class. Let's look at Wikipedia:WikiProject Technology/Assessment

B-ClassThe article meets the following six criteria:

1. It is suitably referenced, and all major points are appropriately cited.

Nine references cited, most paragraphs have at least one reference except for some very general statements which are hardly controversial (bigger batteries have more capacity than smaller batteries, and the like).

2. It reasonably covers the topic, and does not contain major omissions or inaccuracies.

It has history, chemistry, capacity, recharging and disposal sections. Each section could be somewhat expanded, but there's no major ommissions.

3. It has a defined structure, including a lead section and one or more sections of content.

Duh.

4. It is free from major grammatical errors.

Duh. "Word" just now only quarreled about a "that/which" substitution which I refuse to change merely on the advice of Word.

5. It contains appropriate supporting materials, such as an infobox, images, or diagrams.

Infoboxes are a pox. We've got sufficient diagrams and pictures.

6. It is written from a neutral point of view

Duh. It's about a battery, even Wikieditors don't cry "jihad!" over batteries.

B-Class articles are selected by individual assessors.

I think it should be mandatory that any drive-by tagger give us a point by point evaluation against the project's criteria. I recommend that any article class evaluations not accompanied by a point by point evaluation should be removed as pointless Wikitwiddling. We *love* tags in this project because it's so much easier to tag something than to FIX it. --Wtshymanski (talk) 16:00, 28 January 2011 (UTC)

Agreed, many article assessments seem more like meta-editing, it lets people feel like they are contributing something, without really doing anything. Many are really no better than random vandalism. Are you done with your TPS reports? :) DMahalko (talk) 18:28, 28 January 2011 (UTC)

Alkaline reserve battery?

Apparently somewhere around 1967-1971 or so, the Mallory Battery Company (now Duracell) offered an alkaline reserve battery as a consumer product. This could be kept on the shelf for years, then turning a screw in the top of the battery would break an internal electrolyte resevoir and make it ready to use. Aside from a breathless press release in a 1967 "Popular Science" I can't find much more about these; they didn't make it into the Linden battery handbook. Has anyone seen any more on this reserve battery? --Wtshymanski (talk) 18:51, 16 March 2012 (UTC)

I'll have a gander around my school’s archives, see if any more mentions come up. I think it probably never went anywhere though.--Lead holder (talk) 09:36, 17 March 2012 (UTC)

graph of resistance and voltage as discharging

Graph(s) would be very helpful. - Rod57 (talk) 02:07, 11 November 2014 (UTC)