Leclanche wet cell, an early storage battery, 20th century. Artist: Unknown

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Leclanche wet cell, an early storage battery, 20th century. Invented by the French engineer Georges Leclanche (1839-1882), this was an early form of the zinc carbon (dry cell) battery, the first widely used storage battery. It consists of a glass vessel containing a zinc rod (left), and a central porous cell of a carbon block surrounded by small pieces of carbon and manganese dioxide and sealed with pitch. The conducting fluid or electrolyte is a strong solution of chloride of ammonia. They were used as a power source in early telephones.

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Photo credit: © Oxford Science Archive/Heritage Images / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: &, /, 19th, 20th, archive, battery, black, cell, century, chemistry, concept, electricity, energy, engraving, georges, innovation, invention, leclanche, metal, monochrome, nineteenth, object, oxford, physics, power, science, technology, unknown, white, zinc