Primary cell

A primary cell is any kind of electrodes, while, ideally, the reversibility of the reactions in a secondary cell allows them to be restored to almost the same fully charged condition on each recharging.

Comparison with rechargeables

Even though Li-Ion batteries.

However, there are some battery uses that require long dormancy periods and few replacements, so major issue is charge retention. In these circumstances, certain rechargeable battery technologies may not be appropriate, as they may have a high self-discharge rate compared to equivalent non-rechargeable batteries. For example, a flashlight used for emergency purposes must work when needed, even if it has sat on a shelf for an extended period of time. Primary cells are also more cost-efficient in this case, as rechargeable batteries would use only a small fraction of available recharge cycles.

List of primary cells

Most of these cells are now used only for demonstration purposes in laboratories. For further details see the individual articles.

• Leclanche cell
• Daniell cell
• Grove cell
• Bunsen cell
• Chromic acid cell
• Clark cell
• Weston cell

See also

• Battery
• Secondary cell
• Fuel cell
• Primary cell terminology
• Determining emf of primary cells using potentiometer