Applications of Electrochemistry

Applications of electrochemistry

Electrochemistry has a number of different uses, particularly in industry. The principles of cells are used to make electrical batteries. In science and technology, a battery is a device that stores chemical energy and makes it available in an electrical form. Batteries are made of electrochemical devices such as one or more galvanic cells or fuel cells. Batteries have many uses including in:

Fact:

A fuel cell converts the chemical potential energy produced by the oxidation of fuels (e.g. hydrogen gas, hydrocarbons, alcohols) into electrical energy.

• torches

• electrical appliances such as cellphones (long-life alkaline batteries)

• digital cameras (lithium batteries)

• hearing aids (silver-oxide batteries)

• digital watches (mercury/silver-oxide batteries)

• military applications (thermal batteries)

In the next set of lessons, we are going to look at a few examples of the uses of electrochemistry in industry.