Battery Power Tips

  • Home
  • Aerospace & Defense
  • Automotive
  • Renewables & Grid Connected
  • Robotics
  • Stationary Power
  • FAQs

What is an electrolyte?

By Jody Muelaner | August 3, 2021

The electrolyte in a battery is the substance that allows electrical current to flow between the anode and the cathode. Electrolytes may be fluids or solids. Soluble salts, acids, and bases can generally act as electrolytes.

While current flows through a metallic conductor in the form of lone electrons, within an electrolyte current flows in the form of ions – atoms or molecules that carry charge due to the addition or subtraction of electrons. Electrons entering and leaving the battery terminals cause chemical reactions at the electrodes, which create clouds of these ions to form around them. Ions with opposite charge then flow towards each other.

Negatively charged ions, which are known as anions and have excess electrons, flow from the cathode to the anode. At the same time, positively charged ions, which are known as cations and have a deficit of electrons, flow from the anode to the cathode. Electrical charge is, therefore, flowing in both directions through the electrolyte.

Although most electrolytes are liquids, they do not always appear as a pool of liquid that is distinct from the electrodes.

electrolyteExamples of common types of batteries with their electrolytes:

  • A traditional lead-acid battery uses lead-based plates for both electrodes and a pool of liquid acid as the electrolyte.
  • Alkaline single-use batteries use a zinc anode and a manganese-oxide cathode. The electrolyte is an alkaline solution of potassium hydroxide. Although it is a liquid, it does not appear as a distinct pool between the electrodes. Instead, the electrode materials are powders mixed with the electrolyte to form a paste. A thin ion-conducting layer separates the anode-electrolyte paste from the cathode-electrolyte paste.
  • Zinc-carbon, single-use batteries have an electrolyte that is a wet paste of ammonium chloride and/or zinc chloride. This electrolyte paste is contained between the zinc case which acts as the anode, and a manganese oxide core which acts as the cathode. A graphite rod is used as the conductor through the cathode center, as the manganese oxide would rapidly corrode a metallic conductor.
  • Lithium-ion batteries typically use a solution of lithium salt as the electrolyte. It is not present as a pool of liquid but rather is coated as a thin layer onto a separator sheet. The lithium metal oxide cathode is coated onto a thin copper foil, and the graphite anode is coated onto aluminum foil. These foils act as the current collectors which contact with the battery terminals, known as the tabs. The cell is then formed by layering these three sheets of material. They are often rolled up to form a cylindrical cell.

You may also like:

  • cathode
    What is an anode?
  • cathode
    What is a cathode?

  • Understanding battery management systems

  • The difference between primary and secondary battery chemistries

  • Understanding battery terminology

  • What is a battery?

Tell Us What You Think! Cancel reply

Stay Up To Date

Battery techEnews Sign Up

CURRENT DIGITAL ISSUE

How to turn off a smart meter the hard way Potential cyber attacks have a lot of people worried thanks to the recent conflict in Ukraine. So it might be appropriate to review what happened when cybersecurity fi rm FireEye’s Mandiant team demonstrated how to infiltrate the network of a North American utility. During this…

EE Learning Center

“ee

“ee

RSS Current EDABoard.com discussions

  • Dynamic power consumption.
  • Limits of duty cycle for ICM7555 IC?
  • pmos folded cascode vs nmos folded cascode for LDO
  • Pic 16f877A Hex file
  • Need help to choose accelerometer
Battery Power Tips
  • EE World Online
  • Design World
  • Medical Design & Outsourcing
  • Solar Power World
  • The Robot Report
  • Contact
  • Sign Up Enews

Copyright © 2022 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search Battery Power Tips

  • Home
  • Aerospace & Defense
  • Automotive
  • Renewables & Grid Connected
  • Robotics
  • Stationary Power
  • FAQs