Daniell Cell: Charging and Discharging

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This Demonstration shows the motions of the ,
and
ions in a Daniell cell:
. The cell can function either as a battery or as an electrolytic cell. Two half-cells, one made of copper filled with copper sulfate and the other made of zinc filled with zinc sulfate, are connected through a porous glass partition. Electroneutrality is maintained by the moving sulfate ions. The initial condition is a homogeneous distribution of all the ions with no polarization of the electrodes.
Contributed by: A. Ratti, D. Meliga, L. Lavagnino and S. Z. Lavagnino (June 2021)
Open content licensed under CC BY-NC-SA
Snapshots
Details
Snapshot 1: after mixing the salts in each solution and closing the circuit, electromotive force (emf) is generated
Snapshot 2: after applying electric current, concentrations in the solutions change: the zinc solution becomes less concentrated while the copper solution becomes more concentrated
Snapshot 3: after applying an emf, ions are reduced and
is deposited on the plate, while
ions are formed as oxidation takes place
Reference
[1] A. da Rosa, "Daniell Cell," Fundamentals of Renewable Energy Processes, 3rd ed., Amsterdam: Elsevier/AP, 2013. (Jun 16, 2021) www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/daniell-cell.
Permanent Citation