Leclanché cell
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battery with an anode of zinc and a cathode of manganese dioxide
~7 min read
Encyclopedic overview
A 1919 illustration of a Leclanché cell The Leclanché cell is a battery invented and patented by the French scientist Georges Leclanché in 1866. The battery contained a conducting solution (electrolyte) of ammonium chloride, a cathode (positive terminal) of carbon, a depolarizer of manganese dioxide (oxidizer), and an anode (negative terminal) of zinc (reductant). The chemistry of this cell was later successfully adapted to manufacture a dry cell.
History
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Leclanché cell” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.