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The Daniell cell is a type of electrochemical cell invented in 1836 by John Frederic Daniell, a British chemist and meteorologist, and consisted of a copper pot filled with a copper sulfate solution, in which was immersed an unglazed earthenware container filled with sulfuric acid and a zinc electrode. He was searching for a way to eliminate the hydrogen bubble problem found in the voltaic pile, and his solution was to use a second electrolyte to consume the hydrogen produced by the first. Zinc sulfate may be substituted for the sulfuric acid. The Daniell cell was a great improvement over the existing technology used in the early days of battery development. A later variant of the Daniell cell called the gravity cell or crowfoot cell was invented in the 1860s by a Frenchman named Callaud and became a popular choice for electrical telegraphy. The Daniell cell is also the historical basis for the contemporary definition of the volt, which is the unit of electromotive force in the International System of Units. The definitions of electrical units that were proposed at the 1881 International Conference of Electricians were designed so that the electromotive force of the Daniell cell would be about 1.0 volts. With contemporary definitions, the standard potential of the Daniell cell at 25 °C is actually 1.10 V. ==Chemistry== In the Daniell cell, copper and zinc electrodes are immersed in a solution of copper(II) sulfate and zinc sulfate respectively. At the anode, zinc is oxidized per the following half reaction: :Zn(s) → Zn2+(aq) + 2e− . . (Standard electrode potential -0.7618 V ) At the cathode, copper is reduced per the following reaction: :Cu2+(aq) + 2e− → Cu(s) . . (Standard electrode potential +0.340 V ) The total reaction being: :Zn(s) + Cu2+(aq) → Zn2+(aq) + Cu(s) . . ( Open-circuit voltage 1.1018 V ) In classroom demonstrations, a form of the Daniell cell known as two half cells is often used due to its simplicity. The two half cells each support one half of the reactions described above. A wire and light bulb may connect the two electrodes. Electrons that are “pulled” from the zinc anode travel through the wire, providing an electrical current that illuminates the bulb. In such a cell, the counterions play an important role. Having a negative charge, the anions build up around the anode to maintain a neutral charge. Conversely, at the cathode the copper(II) cations discharge to maintain a neutral charge. These two processes accompany the accumulation of copper solid at the cathode and the corrosion of the zinc electrode into the solution as zinc cations. Since neither half reaction will occur independently of the other, the two half cells must be connected in a way that will allow ions to move freely between them. A porous barrier or ceramic disk may be used to separate the two solutions while allowing the flow of sulfate ions. When the half cells are placed in two entirely different and separate containers, a salt bridge is often used to connect the two cells. The salt bridge typically contains a high concentration of potassium nitrate (a salt that will not interfere chemically with the reaction in either half-cell). In the above wet-cell during discharge, nitrate anions in the salt bridge move into the zinc half-cell in order to balance the increase in Zn2+ ions. At the same time, potassium ions from the salt bridge move into the copper half-cell in order to replace the Cu2+ ions being discharged. In the Daniell cell, the porous barrier cannot prevent the flow of copper ions into the zinc half-cell. Hence, recharging (reversing the current flow by an external source of EMF) is impossible because, if the zinc electrode is made to become the cathode, copper ions, rather than zinc ions, will be discharged on account of their lower potential. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Daniell cell」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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