Grove Cell
grove cell
[′grōv ‚sel]Grove Cell
a galvanic cell in which zinc in weak sulfuric acid solution is the cathode and platinum in concentrated nitric acid solution is the anode, the two solutions separated by a porous divider. Electromotive force (emf). 1.98 volts. The cell is named for its inventor (1839) and first investigator, the English physicist W. R. Grove.
The name is also applied to a gas cell that consists of a pair of platinum electrodes—one in hydrogen and the other in oxygen. Sulfuric acid is used as the electrolyte: the hydrogen and oxygen are electrochemically active under these conditions. The emf of this cell equals about 1 volt. Similar cells have been called fuel cells. The cells were improved considerably during the 1960’s and found wider use in a number of countries, including the United States and Great Britain.
N. S. LIDORENKO