ELECTROCHEMICAL ENERGY

ELECTRO CHEMICAL ENERGY

CHEMICAL ENERGY to ELECTRICAL ENERGY (and VICE VERSA)

OBJECTIVES
At the end of the module, the students are expected to:
1. explain the importance of electrochemical energy in the field of agricultural and
biosystems engineering;
2. explain how a battery works;
3. explain how a fuel cell works;
4. explain how a supercapacitor works.

ENERGY - capacity to do work; a quantitative property that must be transferred to an

object to perform work on, or to heat, the object.
Chemical Energy - is the potential (energy that is stored) of chemical compounds
(atoms, molecules, ions) to undergo a chemical reaction (chemical
bonds between atoms are formed or broken; atoms are rearranged
or combined) to transform into other substances.
Electrical Energy - kinetic energy that is caused by flow or movement of electrical
charges (charge carriers are often ELECTRONS)

Electrochemical Energy explains HOW POWER SOURCES WORK such as batteries, fuel
cells and supercapacitors. As future agricultural and biosystems engineers, you must
understand how power sources work.
Electrochemistry refers to anything that involves reactions that produce and consume
electrons.

BATTERY

ELECTROCHEMISTRY in batteries is an OXIDATION-REDUCTION (REDOX) REACTION

(Oxidation and Reduction are both half reactions of a redox reaction.)

OXIDATION-REDUCTION (REDOX) REACTION (Oxidation – release of electrons during a

reaction; reduction – gaining of electrons during a reaction) Chemical reaction in which one
substance loses electrons while another substance gains them.
 Figure 1. Oxidation and Reduction (Tuition Tube, 2018).
A battery has three main components namely an anode (positive terminal; vacuums
electrons), a cathode (negative terminal, donates electrons), and the electrolyte or
separator. Redox Reaction happens because of the difference in electronegativities
(tendency of an atom to attract a pair of electrons) of the cathode and the anode. The
amount of work that can be done by a battery depends on the difference in these
electronegativities which affect the strength of push and pull on electrons. This strength of
push and pull is called the electrical potential (voltage). If the voltage (or electrical
potential) is high, more work can be done.
Basically, battery works by putting a device (separator) between the two halves of
a redox reaction (separator/electrolyte), the half that gives off electrons (cathode) and
other half that demands electrons (anode).

The anode (zinc) and cathode (manganese

oxide) are separated by the cellulose barrier.
If not, work will be continuous, or the flow of
electrons will be continuous. Separation
allows negative electrons to build up in the
negative terminal (cathode). If work from the
battery is needed, a conductor must be
connected between the cathode and anode
for electrons to flow.

Figure 2. Parts of a battery (CrashCourse, 2013)

Some of the earliest uses of battery include telegraphy and railroad signaling during
the nineteenth century. Way back, it is considered as the only practical source of electrical
power (Lower, 1994).
Batteries are classified as primary or secondary cells (also called storage cells). The
most common example of primary cell is the alkaline batteries used in wall clocks, toys,
among others. On the other hand, secondary cells include rechargeable batteries which
allows conversion of electrical energy into chemical energy and re-supply it as electrical
energy once needed (Lower, 1994).

FUEL CELL
A device that takes in hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity. Each fuel cell
consists of two plates separated by a membrane, an electrolyte. Figure 3 shows the parts
of a fuel cell. Oxygen (O2) from ambient air is supplied to one side (cathode side) and
hydrogen (H2) is supplied on the other side (anode side). Hydrogen contains a lot of
chemical energy (AKIO TV, 2018). If ignited, hydrogen reacts with the oxygen in the air and
releases energy by means of an explosion with waste product being water.

Figure 3. Parts of a Fuel Cell (AKIO TV, 2018).

The positive particles of hydrogen atoms can pass through the membrane
(electrolyte allows only positive particles to pass through), the negative particles are left
because they cannot pass through (Figure 4). The negative and positive particles are
separated through a catalyst. A catalyst is normally made of platinum which makes a fuel
cell expensive.

Figure 4. Positive particles passing through the membrane (AKIO TV, 2018).
 However, atoms need an equalizing charge so that hydrogen can react with oxygen
and consequently produce water. Thus, the electrons find a new path other than the
membrane which creates an electrical current (Figure 5). The product then produces
power.

Figure 5. Creation of an electric current (AKIO TV, 2018).

Figure 6. Simplified schematic of Fuel Cell parts (AKIO TV, 2018).

SUPERCAPACITOR
Capacitors have electro potential energy electrostatically. Capacitors use a dielectric
or insulator between their plates to separate the collection of positive and negative
charges. The separation allows storage of energy. It is basically capturing static electricity.
Capacitors are like batteries but store energy in a different way and much less than batteries
can do. In addition, capacitors can be charged and discharged without wearing out for a
very long period. A 3V capacitor now will still be a 3V capacitor after how many years.
However, capacitors have very low specific energy. It is only good for small bursts of power
because it can release energy quickly.

Figure 7. Capacitors (Wikipedia, 2020).

A capacitor can be as simple as two metal plates separated by air, a thin plastic film,
or a ceramic. When a current is applied to the plates, a positive charge builds up on one
plate, and a negative charge builds up on another (Figure 8) creating an electric field
between them (Seeker, 2018).

Figure 8. Positive and Negative charges build up on two metal plates (Seeker,
2018).

A capacitor becomes fully charged almost instantly and results to charged electrons
highly attracted to each other. Thus, it can deliver energy quickly. However, a capacitor
cannot store much energy unless the surface areas of the plates are increased or the
distance between the plates are reduced. Basically, instead of just air, a thin insulator is
used (Seeker, 2018).
Supercapacitor, on the other hand, is like a hybrid of a capacitor and a battery
because it can store and release large amounts of electricity rapidly. It is made of two
separated plates made of metal and coated with a porous substance such as a powdery,
activated charcoal to create a larger surface area capable of storing more charge. However,
even the best supercapacitor as to date can just hold 10 Wh/kg, only about 5% of the energy
density of a lithium ion battery of the same weight. Latest breakthroughs on
supercapacitors include the use of polymers as it can store 180Wh/kg of the same weight of
a battery (Ferrell, 2020).
Supercapacitors have low energy density but has high power density. Illustration as
follows shows the difference between power and energy.

Figure 9. The difference between power and energy (Campbell, Jenden, & Donev,
2019)
The rate at which the liquid comes out of the container is analogous to the power
while the amount of liquid that can be held within the container is analogous to energy.
Thus, power is higher in the left-hand side of the picture (liquid being spilled out of a cup)
while energy is higher in the right hand side of the picture (liquid inside the bigger container).
To understand better how supercapacitors work, it is important to know its internal
components. Figure 10 shows a cross section of a supercapacitor. The cell contains two
identical carbon electrodes (positive and negative) held apart by a separator. Both
electrodes are connected to aluminum current collectors.
 Figure 10. Cross section (left) and simplified structure (right) of a supercapacitor
(EV-Tech Explained, 2016).

Figure 11 shows how the negative and positive ions are arranged when a
supercapacitor is uncharged (left) and fully charged (right).

Figure 11. Simplified charging mechanism of a supercapacitor.

To charge an uncharged capacitor, the positive and negative terminals should be

connected to an energy source. Figure 12 shows what happens on the side of the negative
electrode.
 Figure 12. Charging mechanism on the negative electrode (EV-Tech Explained,
2016).
The carbon electrode becomes negatively charged. An electrical field is then
generated near the electrode. The negative electrode will then attract positive ions while
repelling the negative ones. Simultaneously, the opposite is happening on the positive
electrode side. The counter ions (ions attracted by the electrode, meaning the positive ions
for Figure 12) are adsorbed to the electrode surface (Figure13).

Figure 13. Positive counter-ions are adsorbed at the electrode surface.

The very strong electric field allows the electrons from the electrode and the ions in
the electrolyte close to one another. The intense electric field is where the cell is storing its
energy as potential energy.
To summarize, energy is stored in a supercapacitor by applying a potential to the
electrodes causing an electric field to be generated. Because of this intense electric field,
counter-ions are attracted and eventually adsorbed to the electrode surface. The very
intense electrical field also holds the electrons and ions together.
 REFERENCES
(2018, May 31). Retrieved from Tuition Tube: https://tuitiontube.com/oxidation-reduction-
redox-reactions/

AKIO TV. (2018, January 28). Retrieved from How does a hydrogen fuel cell work?:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zgx-PlDEKA

Campbell, A., Jenden, J., & Donev, J. (2019, September 4). Retrieved from
https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Energy_vs_power

CrashCourse. (2013, October 29). Retrieved from Electrochemistry: Crash Course Chemistry
#36: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV4IUsholjg&t=102s

EV-Tech Explained. (2016, January 2). Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FG6JRHGFyQ&t=1s

Ferrell, M. (2020, September 1). Retrieved from Supercapacitors explained - the future of
energy storage?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7T-6XdiRTw

Lower, S. K. (1994). In Electrochemistry (p. 29). Simon Fraser University.

Seeker. (2018, August 31). Retrieved from How Supercapacitors Could Make Batteries a
Thing of the Past: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeSvErqdmIM&t=1s

Wikipedia. (2020, September 23). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor