Dynamical theory for the battery's electromotive force

Abstract

We propose a dynamical theory of how the chemical energy stored in a battery generates the electromotive force (emf). In this picture, the battery's half-cell acts as an engine, cyclically extracting work from its underlying chemical disequilibrium. We show that the double layer at the electrode-electrolyte interface can exhibit a rapid self-oscillation that pumps an electric current, thus accounting for the persistent conversion of chemical energy into electrical work equal to the emf times the separated charge. We suggest a connection between this mechanism and the slow self-oscillations observed in various electrochemical cells, including batteries, as well as the enhancement of the current observed when ultrasound is applied to the half-cell. Finally, we propose more direct experimental tests of the predictions of this dynamical theory.

11 pages, 5 figures + appendix (2 pages, no figures). v3: some points further clarified in text, references improved, minor typos fixed. To be published in PCCP

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Cited by in corpus (6)

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• Performance boost of a collective qutrit refrigerator
• Active Electric Dipole Energy Sources: Transduction via Electric Scalar and Vector Potentials
• Leaking elastic capacitor as model for active matter
• The problem of engines in statistical physics
• Open quantum dynamics of Josephson charge pumps