As mentioned in the Preface, electrochemical storage of energy involves the conversion,
or transduction, of chemical energy into electrical energy, and vice versa. This
is accomplished by the use of electrochemical cells, commonly known as batteries.
To understand how this works, it is first necessary to consider the driving forces
that cause electrochemical transduction to occur in electrochemical cells and the
major types of reaction mechanisms that can occur. These matters are discussed in
this chapter.
This is followed by a brief description of the important practical parameters that
are used to describe the behavior of electrochemical cells. How the basic properties
of such electrochemical systems can be modeled through the use of simple equivalent
electrical circuits is then shown.
The next chapter discusses the principles that determine the major properties of
electrochemical cells, their voltages and capacities.