Canadian Inventions – The Alkaline Dry Cell Battery

The first consumer dry cell battery was produced by Eveready at the end of the 19th century, but by mid-way through the 20th century, the company was still relying on the same fundamental battery and struggling with an underperforming product. All that changed in 1957 when Lewis Urry, a recent graduate of the University of Toronto, developed the first alkaline dry cell battery. The alkaline battery addressed the primary shortfall of the existing zinc-carbon battery, which was its longevity. Urry’s prototype alkaline battery had many times the durability of the old zinc-carbon batteries, but Urry still had to convince his managers at Eveready of the potential for alkaline batteries. In 1955, Lewis Urry had moved to Ohio to work on Eveready’s zinc-carbon battery but it had not taken long for Urry to realize that it would be better to develop a new dry cell battery than improve the existing zinc-carbon technology. Urry tested numerous materials before settling on manganese dioxide for the cathode and solid zinc for the anode. This combination produced superior battery life, but Urry’s prototype cell could not match the power output of the company’s existing zinc-carbon batteries. After several attempts to improve the power output from his alkaline cell, Urry found a solution. By replacing the solid zinc anode of his original prototype with zinc powder, Urry was able to increase the reactive surface area of the anode and improve the cell’s power output. Urry’s next task was to convince his managers at Eveready of the potential of his invention and here too he showed his inventiveness. Urry purchased two identical battery-operated cars from a local toy shop, installing his new alkaline battery in one and the company’s zinc-carbon battery in the other. Urry then set the cars racing in the company cafeteria while the vice-president of technology watched. The car powered by Urry’s new alkaline battery completed several lengths of the long cafeteria, while the other car barely moved. Subsequent tests compared the relative longevity of the batteries powering flashlights and other consumer devices. Urry remained an employee at Eveready for 54 years, accumulating 51 patents during his career (including one for the alkaline dry cell battery). He is also credited with inventing the lithium battery, for which he received several patents. Summary by: Richard Murphy