Georges Leclanché

Georges Leclanché (1839 - September 14, 1882) was a French electrical engineer chiefly remembered for his invention of the Leclanché cell, one of the first modern electrical batteries and the forerunner of the modern dry cell battery.

Biography

Leclanché was born in Parmain, France in 1839, the son of Léopold Leclanché and Eugenie of Villeneuve. He was educated in England and completed his education in the École Centrale Paris engineering school, graduating in 1860 to begin work as an engineer.

Leclanché cell

In 1866 he invented the Leclanché cell, one of the first electrical batteries and the forerunner of the modern dry cell battery. It comprised a conducting solution (electrolyte) of ammonium chloride with a negative terminal of zinc and a positive terminal of manganese dioxide.

Leclanche's "wet cell" (as it was popularly called) was the forerunner to the world's first widely used battery, the Zinc-carbon battery.

Trivia

* Rue Georges Leclanché, a street in Paris, is named after him.

External links

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References

* Mertens, Joost, 'The Theoretical Batteries of Georges Leclanché', "Archives Internationales d'Histoire des Sciences" 49, nr. 142 (June 1999), 75-102.