4 ms·

Why is it called anode-free when it still has a copper collector with a special coating? Yes, they removed the graphite, but they didn’t remote the entire “anod

Why is it called anode-free when it still has a copper collector with a special coating? Yes, they removed the graphite, but they didn’t remote the entire “anode”. Or is it because the collector and the coating are not technically considered as an electrode?

ndsipa_pomu 4y ago
I initially thought this was an early April Fool's joke in a different time zone to me. It does sound to me like they're replacing the traditional anode with a different anode.
- eurekin 4y ago
  They missed the opportunity to go "anodeless", like with the serverless
- ngrilly 4y ago
  Sounds the same to me. A copper sheet coated with a thin layer of lithium-activated tellurium instead of a thicker layer of graphite. Not trying to diminish their achievement, but I don’t understand the anode-less claim.
danbruc 4y ago
Technically speaking you can not get rid of the anode unless you also get rid of the cathode as anode and cathode switch places between charging and discharging. It is just by convention that in case of batteries the role while discharging is used, I would guess carried over from non-rechargeable batteries, but the anode would better be called the negative electrode.
- pbhjpbhj 4y ago
  A battery with no poles would be a curious beast!
malfist 4y ago
Forgive me if my EE knowledge is old and rusty, but isn't an anode required for a battery to function? You have to be able to harvest a voltage differential, and to do that you must have an anode and a cathode. Perhaps they meant there wasn't an anode that gets degraded by use?
_nalply 4y ago
I wondered about that too then I realized what an anodeless battery would really, literally mean: if you charge it, you pump electrons into it, so it gets somewhat electrically negative, and if you discharge it, you let the electrons flow out of it. To be pedantic, this is not really anodeless, this would be just a battery having only one electric contact switching roles between a cathode and an anode. Then I started to wonder: what if this really could be done? I am afraid not, because you need two contacts to create a potential difference, don't you?
- skupig 4y ago
  I think (?) that would work as long as your circuit is more negatively charged than your battery and has enough capacitance to keep current flowing- you just have to discharge it later. Maybe with a second, negatively-charged battery...

ndsipa_pomu 4y ago

I initially thought this was an early April Fool's joke in a different time zone to me. It does sound to me like they're replacing the traditional anode with a different anode.

eurekin 4y ago
They missed the opportunity to go "anodeless", like with the serverless
ngrilly 4y ago
Sounds the same to me. A copper sheet coated with a thin layer of lithium-activated tellurium instead of a thicker layer of graphite. Not trying to diminish their achievement, but I don’t understand the anode-less claim.

danbruc 4y ago

Technically speaking you can not get rid of the anode unless you also get rid of the cathode as anode and cathode switch places between charging and discharging. It is just by convention that in case of batteries the role while discharging is used, I would guess carried over from non-rechargeable batteries, but the anode would better be called the negative electrode.

pbhjpbhj 4y ago
A battery with no poles would be a curious beast!

malfist 4y ago

Forgive me if my EE knowledge is old and rusty, but isn't an anode required for a battery to function? You have to be able to harvest a voltage differential, and to do that you must have an anode and a cathode. Perhaps they meant there wasn't an anode that gets degraded by use?

_nalply 4y ago

I wondered about that too then I realized what an anodeless battery would really, literally mean: if you charge it, you pump electrons into it, so it gets somewhat electrically negative, and if you discharge it, you let the electrons flow out of it. To be pedantic, this is not really anodeless, this would be just a battery having only one electric contact switching roles between a cathode and an anode. Then I started to wonder: what if this really could be done? I am afraid not, because you need two contacts to create a potential difference, don't you?

skupig 4y ago
I think (?) that would work as long as your circuit is more negatively charged than your battery and has enough capacitance to keep current flowing- you just have to discharge it later. Maybe with a second, negatively-charged battery...