KR100302989B1 - Dry chemical cell - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention uses an n-type semiconductor having a carrier concentration of 5 × 10 ¹⁶ to 2 × 10 ¹⁹ cm ^-3 as a cathode, and uses a metal having an electron affinity greater than that of the cathode as the anode, By using dry skin as an electrolyte to form a dry chemical cell, it is possible to realize a dry chemical cell that is easy to increase the safety and operation efficiency for the human body.

Description

Dry chemical cell

The present invention relates to a dry chemical cell, a member for the dry chemical cell, and an apparatus provided with the dry chemical cell. In particular, the present invention relates to a dry chemical cell, which is not required to be equipped with an electrolyte in advance, a member for the dry chemical cell, and an apparatus provided with the dry chemical cell.

Primary batteries (hereinafter, referred to as "dry batteries") which are convenient for handling and carrying by allowing electrolyte solutions of batteries to flow in a proper manner have been widely used as power sources for electronic devices. Has become an indispensable power source with the spread of portable electronic devices.

As dry chemical batteries, manganese batteries, alkaline batteries, mercury batteries, silver oxide batteries, lithium batteries and the like are known. All of these conventional dry chemical cells are equipped with an electrolyte solution or a solid electrolyte in advance.

The electrolyte solution used in dry chemical cells such as manganese batteries, alkaline batteries, mercury batteries, and silver oxide batteries is a strong alkaline or strongly acidic solution. For this reason, in a dry chemical cell using such an electrolyte solution, the electrolyte solution is sealed in a container by a predetermined means so that the electrolyte solution does not leak.

In addition, as a solid electrolyte used in dry chemical cells such as lithium batteries, substances such as lithium iodide having a strong irritation to a living body are used. For this reason, also in a lithium battery etc., a solid electrolyte is sealed in the predetermined container.

However, even in a dry chemical cell using either the electrolyte solution or the solid electrolyte, it is difficult to prevent the electrolyte solution or the solid electrolyte from leaking to the outside for a long time.

Most of the portable electronic devices are used in contact with the human body. Among them, medical devices such as pacemakers, information devices such as earphone-type radios, hearing aids, an electronic watches and the like are usually used in contact with the skin. For this reason, the power supply of portable electronic devices is required to be safe for the human body. A dry chemical cell in which an electrolyte solution or a solid electrolyte may leak to the outside is not preferable as a power source for portable electronic devices used in contact with the skin.

As described above, dry chemical cells are required to have safety. On the other hand, lower cost is required for use as a power source for portable electronic devices.

However, as a practical problem, it is difficult to provide a dry chemical battery having high safety at a lower cost.

For example, using a solar battery (a solar battery cell) instead of the dry chemical cells can increase the safety to the human body more. For example, since the power consumption of an electronic wrist watch is currently reduced to about 1 µW, even a solar cell having a light receiving area of about 1 cm ² can be sufficiently used as a power source.

However, since solar cells generate power only when light is being irradiated, they cannot be used as power sources at night or in dark places. That is, the operation efficiency is low. For this reason, a solar cell is normally used together with a built-in secondary battery (secondary battery) for a backup.

An object of the present invention is to provide a device comprising a dry chemical cell, a member for a dry chemical cell, and a dry chemical cell which are easy to increase safety and operating efficiency to a human body.

According to one aspect of the present invention, an electron affinity of a cathode comprising an n-type semiconductor having a carrier concentration at room temperature of 5 × 10 ¹⁶ to 2 × 10 ¹⁹ cm ^-3 , and an electron affinity of the cathode An anode made of a metal having an electron affinity greater than), and a support member for supporting the cathode and the anode so that the cathode contacts the skin of a living body while the cathode and the anode are spatially separated from each other. Dry chemical cells are provided.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cathode composed of an n-type semiconductor having a carrier concentration at room temperature of 5 × 10 ¹⁶ to 2 × 10 ¹⁹ cm ^-3 , and a metal having an electron affinity greater than the electron affinity of the cathode. There is provided a member for a dry chemical cell comprising a positive electrode, wherein the negative electrode and the positive electrode are brought into contact with the skin of a living body while being spaced apart from each other.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cathode comprising an n-type semiconductor having a carrier concentration at room temperature of 5 × 10 ¹⁶ to 2 × 10 ¹⁹ cm ^-3 , and a metal having an electron affinity greater than that of the cathode. A device having a positive electrode, and a load electrically connected to the negative electrode and the positive electrode is provided.

By contacting the metal and the specific n-type semiconductor to the skin of a living body in a state in which they are spaced apart from each other, the metal is used as an anode and the n-type semiconductor is used as a cathode. It is possible to form a dry chemical cell using the electrolyte.

Since this dry chemical cell uses the skin of a living body as an electrolyte, the electrolyte itself is harmless to the living body. Further, even those metals and n-type semiconductors can be easily selected that are harmless to a living body.

An external circuit having a protective resistance (electrical resistance for preventing excessive current from flowing) can be connected to the dry chemical cell. By using the protective resistance, it is possible to easily prevent the skin from being damaged by the current flowing through the skin (subcutaneous tissue, which is the same below).

In addition, since the dry chemical cell uses the skin of a living body as an electrolyte, when the negative electrode and the positive electrode are brought into contact with the skin of the living body, the dry chemical battery develops without selecting a time and a place.

That is, in the dry chemical cell described above, it is easy to increase safety and operating efficiency to the human body.

1 is a principle diagram of a dry chemical cell of an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a view showing a first embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a view showing an example of a circuit for drawing power from the apparatus shown in FIG.

4 shows a circuit configuration of an apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

5 (a) is a front view showing an example of an electronic wrist watch having the circuit configuration shown in FIG. 4;

Figure 5 (b) is a view showing the back of the electronic wrist watch,

6 is a cross-sectional view showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

<Explanation of sign>

1, 11, 21, 42: cathode 2, 12, 22, 43: anode

3, 13, 23, 44: skin 10: chip resistor

10c: resistor 15: load

16a, 16b: lead wire 24: external load circuit

25 driving circuit 26 built-in secondary battery

27: capacitor 30: electronic watch

31: package 40: device

41: support member I: circuit current

Ⅰ _i : ion current

1 is a view for explaining the operating principle of a dry chemical cell according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the negative electrode 1 made of an n-type semiconductor and the positive electrode 2 made of a metal having a greater electron affinity than the negative electrode 1 are in contact with the skin 3 of the living body while being spaced apart alternately. Let's do it. When these cathodes 1 and 2 are electrically connected to each other by, for example, the conductive wires 4, two changes of the following (i) to (ii) occur in the cathode 1.

(i) Due to the difference in electron affinity between the cathode 1 and the anode 2, the free electrons e ⁻ in the cathode 1 move past the conductor 4 to the anode 2. As a result, an excess of positive holes h ⁺ is generated in the cathode 1.

(ii) A Schottky barrier is formed on the contact surface side of the cathode 1 with the skin 3 to support the thermal equilibrium. As a result, in the cathode 1, a carrier depletion layer is formed in the region 1a that extends from the interface with the skin 3 to several μm. In this region 1a, a strong internal electric field of 1x10 ^{3 to} 1x10 ⁵ V / cm is generated (hereinafter, the above region is referred to as "high electric field region 1a").

The free electrons (e ⁻ ) moved from the cathode (1) to the anode (2) in accordance with the change of (i), the excess is immediately discharged to the skin (3) side in order to support the electrical neutrality of the anode (2).

On the other hand, the internal electric field generated in the high electric field region 1a by the change of (ii) acts to discharge the holes h ⁺ generated in the cathode 1 to the skin 3 side.

As a result of these, in the state shown in FIG. 1, holes h ⁺ are injected into the skin 3 from the cathode 1, and electrons e ⁻ are injected into the skin 3 from the anode 2. .

Since various ions exist in the skin 3, an oxidation reaction occurs immediately below the cathode 1 and a reduction reaction occurs immediately below the anode 2, respectively.

The redox reaction described above will be described taking iron ions present in the human body as an example. Redox reaction,

Fe ²⁺ + h ⁺ → Fe ³⁺ (oxidation reaction directly under the cathode (1))

Fe ³⁺ + e ^- → (reduction in the immediately below the anode (2)) Fe ²⁺

Becomes In practice, various ions are involved in the reaction.

Fe ³⁺ ions generated by the oxidation reaction move to the lower side of the anode 2 by concentration diffusion. On the other hand, Fe ²⁺ ions generated by the reduction reaction move to the lower side of the cathode 1 by concentration diffusion. As a result of these, the subtracted +1 electric charge flows from the cathode 1 side to the anode 2 side, so that the ion current I _i from the cathode 1 side to the anode 2 side through the skin 3. Flow. That is, an electrically closed-circuit 5 consisting of the cathode 1-skin 3-anode 2-conductor 4-cathode 1 is formed. At this time, the skin 3 functions as an electrolyte. In other words, a dry chemical cell using the skin 3 as an electrolyte is formed by contacting the skin 3 of the living body with the cathode 1 made of an n-type semiconductor and the anode 2 made of a metal spaced apart from each other. do.

Since an n-type semiconductor is used as the material of the cathode 1, a Schottky barrier is formed on the interface with the skin 3. By the electric field in the carrier depletion layer (high electric field region 1a) of the Schottky barrier, excess holes h ⁺ generated in the cathode 1 are quickly released to the skin 3 side.

In addition, this Schottky barrier prevents the penetration of electrons and anions into the cathode 1 from the skin 3 side. Therefore, when the Schottky barrier is formed, the formation of hydroxide (electric insulator) on the surface of the cathode 1 by the reaction of the cathode 1 with anions such as OH ⁻ ions is suppressed.

The circuit current I increases as the free electron concentration in the cathode 1 increases. However, as the free electron concentration increases, the cathode 1 in turn becomes metallic, and the Schottky barrier collapses. As a result, the anion intrusion inhibiting action by the Schottky barrier and the hole (h ⁺ ) ejection action by the electric field in the carrier depletion layer (high electric field region 1a) are respectively lowered.

The inventor of the present invention uses an n-type semiconductor having a carrier concentration at room temperature (hereinafter, simply referred to as "carrier concentration") of approximately 5x10 ¹⁶ to 2x10 ¹⁹ cm ^-3 as a cathode material, whereby the electromotive force is stabilized. It has been found that practical dry chemical cells can be obtained.

If the carrier concentration in the negative electrode 1 is lower than approximately 5x10 ¹⁶ cm ^-3 , the specific resistance of the negative electrode 1 exceeds approximately 10 kcm. For this reason, circuit current I becomes smaller than 0.1 microamperes, and the utility of a dry chemical battery falls.

On the other hand, when the carrier concentration in the cathode 1 is higher than approximately 2x10 ¹⁹ cm ^-3 , the semiconductor degenerates and the Schottky barrier is formed normally. In this case, the excess hole h ⁺ generated in the cathode 1 is electrically neutralized by free electrons invading from the skin 3 side and consumed as heat in the cathode 1. In addition, an anion, for example, OH ⁻ ions, penetrates into the cathode 1 from the skin 3 side, and a hydroxide (electric insulator) is formed on the surface of the cathode 1. When the hydroxide (electric insulator) is formed, current flows to the contact portion of the cathode 1 and the skin 3.

Preferable carrier concentration of the negative electrode 1 is appropriately selected according to the purpose of the dry chemical battery of interest.

In addition, the thickness d of the Schottky barrier is N _d for the ionized donor concentration (carrier concentration) in the cathode 1, the relative dielectric constant of the cathode 1 is ε _r , and diffusion is generated in the carrier depletion layer. When the potential is V _d and the voltage applied to the Schottky barrier is set to V _o (the positive sign is used when the Schottky barrier is reverse biased).

d ² = (2ε _r ε _o / qN _d ) (V _d + V _o )

You can get Where ε _o is the dielectric constant of vacuum and q is the small amount of electricity (1.6 × 10 ⁻¹⁹ coulombs).

The thickness d of the Schottky barrier when the carrier concentration N _d in the cathode 1 is 2 × 10 ¹⁹ cm ⁻³ is about 90 Angstroms when the cathode 1 is n-type germanium in the above equation. (About 9 nm) and n-type zinc oxide (zinc oxide having oxygen deficiency), it is about 110 angstroms (about 11 nm). When a compound semiconductor (including a conductive oxide) is used as the cathode 1, a Schottky barrier with a thickness of around 100 Angstroms (10 nm) is formed in most compound semiconductors. Therefore, it is considered that a substantial portion of the intrusion mechanism of free electrons penetrating into the cathode 1 when the carrier concentration of the cathode 1 is higher than approximately 2 × 10 ¹⁹ cm ⁻³ is tunneling.

The electromotive force of the dry chemical cell described above is basically determined by the combination of the positive electrode material and the negative electrode material.

For example, gold (Au), iridium (Ir), silver (Ag), copper (Cu), palladium (Pd) and the like are used as the anode material, and the carrier concentration is approximately 5x10 ¹⁶ to 2x as the cathode material. When the n-type semiconductor of 10 ¹⁹ cm ⁻³ is used and the contact area between the cathode and the skin and the contact area between the anode and the skin are approximately 0.01 to 10 cm ² , respectively, the material of the cathode 1 and its crystals are determined. By appropriately selecting the castle (either single crystal, polycrystalline, or amorphous), a dry chemical cell having an electromotive force of about 0.2 to 1.5 V, a current value of about 0.1 to 3 μA, and an output of about 0.01 to 10 mA is relatively easy. You can get it.

In order to obtain a dry chemical cell that is stable to the human body, it is preferable to use a material that is safe for the human body as the anode material and the cathode material. In consideration of the safety to the human body, the material of the cathode 1 is n-type germanium, n-type zinc oxide (zinc oxide having oxygen deficiency), n-type tin oxide, n-type indium phosphide, n-type oxidation It is preferable to use titanium magnesium or the like. And when manufacturing cost is taken into consideration, n-type zinc oxide is especially preferable as a material of the negative electrode 1.

For example, the resistance value of the skin surface of the human body (resistance value between the two metal electrodes when the two metal electrodes are in contact with the skin under a contact area of about 0.1 cm 2) is approximately 1 kPa or more, including the contact resistance of the electrodes. Usually, it exceeds 100 kPa in many cases. However, the resistance is greatly changed due to sweating and the like. When the skin resistance decreases due to sweating or the like, a large ion current I _i (see FIG. 1) flows. The skin may be damaged by this large ion current. In order to prevent damage to the skin due to excessive current, it is preferable to insert a protective resistor in the electrical closed circuit 5 shown in FIG.

When using the dry chemical cell shown in FIG. 1 for a long time, it is preferable to make ion current I _i about 0.1 mA or less in order to prevent skin damage. For this purpose, it is preferable to insert a protective resistor having a resistance value of about 10 kΩ or less into the electrical closed circuit 5. That is, it is preferable to insert a load having an appropriate resistance value within the range of approximately 10 kV to 10 kV into the electrical closed circuit 5.

The negative electrode and the positive electrode are used in a spaced apart state from each other. For this reason, in the dry chemical cell or the dry chemical cell member, the support member which supports these negative electrode and positive electrode in the state which spatially separated from each other as needed is prepared beforehand. The shape of the support member is not particularly limited and can be in various shapes such as a rod shape, a flat plate shape, a disc shape, a thin plate shape and a fitting shape. The negative electrode and the positive electrode may be disposed at the end or the edge portion of the support member. For example, the positive electrode may be formed in a projection shape on a specific surface to surround the positive electrode, and the negative electrode may be disposed on the surface.

The support member may have a function of electrically connecting the cathode and the anode together with the load. In addition, a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer may be provided in advance on the support member to fix the negative electrode and the positive electrode supported by the support member and the support member by the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer on the skin surface. In addition, the supporting member may have a function of a protective resistance.

2 shows a first embodiment of a dry chemical cell or apparatus of the present invention. Metal terminals 10a and 10b are provided at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the cylindrical chip resistor 10. In addition, the resistance element 10c is provided inside the chip resistor 10. The resistance element 10c is electrically connected to the metal terminals 10a and 10b. The outer surface of the chip resistor 10 is formed of an electrically insulating material except for the metal terminals 10a and 10b.

The metal terminal 10a is mounted on the chip resistor 10 so as to cover a part of the end face on one end face in the longitudinal direction. Similarly, the metal terminal 10b is mounted on the chip resistor 10 so as to cover part of the cross section on the cross section in the other direction in the longitudinal direction.

A cathode 11 made of an n-type semiconductor having a carrier concentration of 5 × 10 ¹⁶ to 2 × 10 ¹⁹ cm ^{-3 on} the metal terminal 10a and on the exposed surface of the cross section on which the metal terminal 10a is mounted. Is equipped. Moreover, on the exposed surface of the said cross section where the metal terminal 10b and the said metal terminal 10b are mounted, the anode 12 which consists of metal which has an electron affinity larger than the electron affinity of the cathode 11 is mounted. It is. The distance between the metal terminal 10a and the metal terminal 10b is about 1 cm. The chip resistor 10 also functions as a support member for supporting each of the cathode 11 and the anode 12 in a spaced apart state.

The cathode 11 is electroplated with zinc so as to cover, for example, the exposed surface of the cross section on which the metal terminal 10a and the metal terminal 10a are mounted, and lightly plate the zinc film. An n-type ZnO thin film having a film thickness of about 3 mu m formed by acid treatment. The carrier concentration of this n-type ZnO thin film was about 5 x 10 ¹⁸ cm ^-3 . The anode 12 is, for example, a thin film of gold (Au) having a thickness of about 3 µm, which is electroplated so as to cover the exposed surface of the end surface on which the metal terminal 10b and the metal terminal 10b are mounted.

When the zinc film serving as the base of the cathode 11 is formed by electroplating, the metal terminal 10b is coated with a suitable protective film (for example, an adhesive) in advance. Similarly, when the anode 12 is formed by electroplating, the metal terminal 10a is previously covered with a suitable protective film (for example, an adhesive). The surface of the chip resistor 10 except for the metal terminals 10a and 10b is covered with an electrically insulating material. The part covered with the electrically insulating material does not need to be protected by a blister film during electroplating.

Of course, methods other than electroplating may form the cathode 11 and anode 12 by, for example, physical vapor deposition (Chemical Vapor Deposition), chemical vapor deposition (Chemical Vapor Deposition), printing, or the like. It may be.

When the negative electrode 11 and the positive electrode 12 are in contact with the skin 13, respectively, the dry chemical cell is formed by the negative electrode 11, the positive electrode 12, and the skin 13. At this time, an external current I (circuit current I) flowing from the anode 12 to the cathode 11 flows through the chip resistor 10. In addition, the ion current I _i flows in the skin 13.

If an n-type ZnO thin film is used as the cathode 11 and a gold (Au) thin film is used as the anode 12, the electromotive force of the dry chemical cell is approximately 1.5V. It can also draw about 5 kW of power.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a circuit when drawing power from the dry chemical cell shown in FIG. 2. As shown in the figure, for example, by connecting the load 15 in series with the resistance element 10c in the chip resistor 10, it is possible to draw a predetermined power to the load 15. At this time, the lead wires 16a and 16b for power generation are provided in advance in the chip resistor 10.

If the resistance value of the chip resistor 10 is selected to be 1 mA, the ion current I _i is suppressed to 1 μA or less regardless of the change in skin impedance. When the ion current I _i is about 1 mA or less, even if the dry chemical cell is in contact with the skin 13 for a long time, the skin 13 is not substantially damaged. If the negative electrode 11 and the positive electrode 12 are short-circuited on the skin 13 due to sweating or the like, the redox reaction in the skin 13 stops, and accordingly, the power generation also automatically stops accordingly, so it is safe.

When the dry chemical cell is used, the ion current I _i flows, and the ionic current I _i gives a physical stimulus to the skin 13, thereby causing complaints about pain such as stiff shoulders and back pain. A secondary effect can be obtained that heals or alleviates a general physical complaint.

An n-type ZnO thin film can also be formed by heat-processing a zinc film (Zn film) formed by the plating method in humid air. The carrier concentration of the n-type ZnO thin film varies with the deviation from the stoichoiometrical ratio of zinc (Zn) and oxygen (O), that is, the degree of oxygen deficiency (concentration of oxygen defect). Therefore, by appropriately selecting the conditions (humidity, temperature, processing time, etc.) of the heat treatment, the carrier concentration of the obtained n-type ZnO thin film can be adjusted.

In this manner, various n-type ZnO thin films having different carrier concentrations were formed, and dry chemical cells shown in FIG. 2 were produced using these n-type ZnO thin films. The relationship between the carrier concentration in the n-type ZnO thin film and the characteristics of the dry chemical cell was investigated.

As a result, when the carrier concentration of the n-type ZnO thin film exceeds approximately 2 x 10 ¹⁹ cm ^-3 , the n-type ZnO thin film has a metallic property, and the electromotive force of the dry chemical cell is reduced in a short time. When the surface of the n-type ZnO thin film was analyzed at this time, the presence of hydroxide (OH compound) was confirmed. On the other hand, when the carrier concentration of the n-type ZnO thin film was less than approximately 5 × 10 ¹⁶ cm ^-3 , the value of the ion current I _i was about 0.01 mA even when the resistance of the chip resistor 10 was lowered to about 100 mA. When the ion current (I _i ) was about 0.01 μA, the secondary effect of healing or mitigating the cause of pain was also reduced.

4 is a diagram showing the circuit configuration of the apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The dry chemical cell is constituted by the negative electrode 21, the positive electrode 22, and the skin 23, and an external load circuit 24 is connected to the dry chemical cell. The external load circuit 24 is part of a circuit in an electronic wrist watch, for example.

The external load circuit 24 has a configuration in which the drive circuit 25 of the electronic watch, the 1.5V built-in secondary battery 26 for backup, and the capacitor 27 are connected in parallel.

The external load circuit 24 is stored in the package of the electronic wrist watch. In this package, other electronic circuits such as a display circuit are assembled, but the illustration is omitted here.

The cathode 21 is formed of an n-type semiconductor made of n-type germanium or an undoped zinc oxide having an oxygen deficiency, which is produced by adding a donor to germanium (Ge). The carrier concentration of the negative electrode 24 is appropriately selected within the range of 5 × 10 ¹⁶ to 2 × 10 ¹⁹ cm ⁻³ , more preferably within the range of 3 × 10 ^{17 to} 5 × 10 ¹⁸ cm ⁻³ .

The cathode 22 is formed of a metal having an electron affinity greater than the electron affinity of the cathode 21, for example, gold (Au) or iridium (Ir).

The negative electrode 21 and the positive electrode 22 are the positions where the negative electrode 21 and the positive electrode 22 can contact the skin 23 of the human body at the same time when the predetermined point of the package, that is, the electronic watch is mounted. Are provided at predetermined intervals.

5 (a) and 5 (b) are diagrams schematically showing an example of an electronic wrist watch equipped with a cathode 21 and an anode 22. As shown in Fig. 5A, the electronic watch 30 shows the same appearance as a normal electronic watch when viewed from the front. However, the back surface of the package 31 is filled with the cathode 21 and the anode 22 spaced apart from each other as shown in Fig. 5B. At this time, the package 31 also functions as a support member for supporting each of the cathode 21 and the anode 22 in a spaced apart state.

The total power consumption of the drive circuit 25 and other electronic circuits is about 2 kW when the electronic watch is not provided with a lighting device for illuminating the dial.

When the electronic wrist watch is not attached to the human body, electric power required to drive the electronic wrist watch is supplied by the built-in secondary battery 26.

On the other hand, when the electronic wrist watch is mounted on the human body, the negative electrode 21 and the positive electrode 22 contact the skin 23 to operate the dry chemical battery. The electromotive force of this dry chemical cell is 0.3-1.6V, and the magnitude | size of a circuit current (I) is 1-2 kW.

When the dry chemical cell is operated, free electrons (e ⁻ ) flow out from the cathode 21 to the external load circuit 24 to charge the capacitor 27 first. When the capacitor 27 is charged to 1.5V, power is supplied to the driving circuit 25 while supplying the consumed amount of the built-in secondary battery 26 to the discharge from the capacitor 27.

As shown in FIG. 4, by inserting the capacitor 27 into the external load circuit 24, the voltage supplied to the drive circuit 25 can be stabilized.

6 is a sectional view showing a third embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention. The device 40 shown in this figure has a support member 41 made of a disc on which one side of the adhesive tape 41a is fixed, and a side on which the adhesive tape 41a is fixed on the support member 41. The cathode 42 has a cathode 42 formed to surround the projection 41c formed in the center portion of the surface 41b on the opposite side, and an anode 43 formed on the surface of the projection 41c.

The support member 41 is formed of a conductive material such as metal, conductive oxide such as BaTiO ₃ , conductive carbon, or conductive glass. The cathode 42 is composed of an n-type semiconductor having a carrier concentration of 5x10 ¹⁶ to 2x10 ¹⁹ cm ^-3 at room temperature, and the anode 43 has an electron affinity greater than the electron affinity of the cathode 42. It is made of metal. The cathode 42 is formed on the surface 41b so as to surround the anode 42 at a predetermined distance from the anode 43.

The device 40 is adhered onto the skin 44 by an adhesive tape 41. At this time, since the negative electrode 42 and the positive electrode 43 respectively contact the skin 44, a dry chemical cell including the negative electrode 42, the positive electrode 43, and the skin 44 is formed.

As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated to an Example, this invention is not limited to said Example, It is clear to those skilled in the art that various changes, improvement, a combination, etc. are possible.

For example, the dry chemical battery of the present invention can be used as a power source for various devices such as an earphone type radio, a hearing aid, and a digital thermometer in addition to the power source of the electronic wrist watch as an example. Accordingly, the apparatus of the present invention includes various apparatuses in which the dry chemical battery of the present invention is assembled, in addition to the electronic wristwatch in the embodiment.

Moreover, the member for dry chemical cells of this invention may be a member other than the skin of a living body among the members required to form the dry chemical battery of this invention. The dry chemical battery member comprises a negative electrode made of an n-type semiconductor having a carrier concentration of 5 × 10 ¹⁶ to 2 × 10 ¹⁹ cm ^-3 at the minimum of room temperature, and a metal having an electron affinity greater than the electron affinity of the negative electrode. An anode may be included. The individual members may be separated from each other or may be connected in a predetermined relationship. When the individual members are separated from each other, each member is connected in a predetermined relationship at the time of its use. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various combinations are included in the dry chemical cell member.

For example, the chip resistor 10 shown in FIG. 2, the metal terminals 10a and 10b disposed on the chip resistor 10, and the cathode 11 and the anode 12 mounted on the metal terminals 10a and 10b. ) Is also included in the dry chemical cell member. In addition, the negative electrode 21, the positive electrode 22, and the package 31 shown in Fig. 5B are also included in the dry chemical cell member. Of course, only two members of the negative electrode 21 and the positive electrode 22 shown in Fig. 5 (b) can be regarded as a dry chemical cell member. The apparatus 40 shown in FIG. 6 is also included in the dry chemical cell member.

As described above, the dry chemical cell of the present invention is a dry chemical cell that is easy to increase safety and operation efficiency for the human body, and the dry chemical cell does not need to be equipped with an electrolyte in advance. Moreover, when the member for dry chemical cells of this invention is used, said dry chemical battery can be formed easily.

Therefore, according to this invention, it becomes easy to provide the current drive type apparatus which is safe for a human body, and has high operation efficiency at low cost.

Claims (11)

A cathode composed of an n-type semiconductor having a carrier concentration at room temperature of 5 × 10 ¹⁶ to 2 × 10 ¹⁹ cm ^-3 , An anode made of a metal having an electron affinity greater than that of the cathode, And a support member for supporting the cathode and the anode such that both of the cathode and the anode are in contact with the skin of the living body while being spaced apart from each other. The dry chemical cell of claim 1, wherein the cathode is made of n-type germanium or n-type zinc oxide, and the anode is made of gold (Au) or iridium (Ir). The dry chemical cell of claim 1, further comprising a load that electrically connects the cathode and the anode. A cathode composed of an n-type semiconductor having a carrier concentration at room temperature of 5 × 10 ¹⁶ to 2 × 10 ¹⁹ cm ^-3 , An anode made of a metal having an electron affinity greater than the electron affinity of the cathode; And a dry chemical cell by contacting both of the negative electrode and the positive electrode to the skin of a living body in a state where they are spaced apart from each other. The member of claim 4, wherein the cathode is made of n-type germanium or n-type zinc oxide, and the anode is made of gold (Au) or iridium (Ir). 5. The dry chemical cell member of claim 4, further comprising a support member for supporting the cathode and the anode in an alternating space. The member of Claim 4 which has a load which electrically connects the said cathode and the said anode. A cathode composed of an n-type semiconductor having a carrier concentration at room temperature of 5 × 10 ¹⁶ to 2 × 10 ¹⁹ cm ^-3 , And a positive electrode made of a metal having an electron affinity greater than the electron affinity of the negative electrode, and a load electrically connected to the negative electrode and the positive electrode. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the cathode is made of n-type germanium or n-type zinc oxide, and the anode is made of gold (Au) or iridium (Ir). 9. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising a support member for supporting the cathode and the anode in a spatially separated state from each other. 9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein said load comprises a resistor.