Are graphite alkalines better than ordinary alkaline?

In short - nowadays it's mostly pointless. If you want long life under high load, go with NiMH.

If there are no numbers, then don't believe it.

I suspect it's some sales gimmick AFAIK all Alkaline batteries contain graphite

The best thing to do is test them in some appliance that gives you fairly standard returns (my Psion 5mx was good at this for AA's).

My UK experience is that nothing beats IKEA's AA yellow alkaline batteries for cost/Ah. I'd say the same is true for AAA's, but I'm not sure for C or D cells.

In that respect, what would be the fundamental performance difference between the usual carbon cathode and a graphite carbon cathode in a LeClanche (dry) carbon-zinc cell?

Bill

-- Fermez le Bush

My area of expertise is with lead-acid batteries...

I don't know much (if anything) about zinc-carbon

The difference isnt with the cathode.

Didn't brass come later?

I responded to this earlier on the basis that ordinary dry cells use carbon rods as anodes (not cathodes). Is that true of alkaline cells? If not so, what is the graphite (or carbon) used for in alkaline cells?

Bill

-- Fermez le Bush

With classic (+) current, its emitter is the cathode. (Sucks, doesn't it.) The diagram in my text shows a brass cathode and terminal for the alkaline; it lasts longer because of the better conductor. If grafite mush is in that end of the battery, it will also help, better than solid "carbon" or a plain solution. Did you know you can recharge primary cells?

They all have graphite. But I think your Sainsbury's battery might be a third-party oxyride . They're pretty good.