---
title: "History of electrochemistry"
chunk: 1/6
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_electrochemistry"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:59:33.437403+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

Electrochemistry, a branch of chemistry, went through several changes during its evolution from early principles related to magnets in the early 16th and 17th centuries, to complex theories involving conductivity, electric charge and mathematical methods. The term electrochemistry was used to describe electrical phenomena in the late 19th and 20th centuries. In recent decades, electrochemistry has become an area of current research, including research in batteries and fuel cells, preventing corrosion of metals, the use of electrochemical cells to remove refractory organics and similar contaminants in wastewater electrocoagulation and improving techniques in refining chemicals with electrolysis and electrophoresis.

== Background and dawn of electrochemistry ==
The 16th century marked the beginning of scientific understanding of electricity and magnetism that culminated with the production of electric power and the Industrial Revolution in the late 19th century.
In the 1550s, English scientist William Gilbert spent 17 years experimenting with magnetism and, to a lesser extent, electricity. For his work on magnets, Gilbert became known as "The Father of Magnetism." His book De Magnete quickly became the standard work throughout Europe on electrical and magnetic phenomena, and made a clear distinction between magnetism and what was then called the "amber effect" (static electricity).

In 1663, German physicist Otto von Guericke created the first electrostatic generator, which produced static electricity by applying friction. The generator was made of a large sulfur ball inside a glass globe, mounted on a shaft. The ball was rotated by means of a crank and a static electric spark was produced when a pad was rubbed against the ball as it rotated. The globe could be removed and used as an electrical source for experiments with electricity.  Von Guericke used his generator to show that like charges repelled each other.

== The 18th century and birth of electrochemistry ==