Revenues from the sales of RegenBox solutions are used to fund a budget intended for the self-financing of the RegenBox research project, which since 2017 has been testing all brands of AA and AAA batteries on the market. Our objective is to be able to exploit the database resulting from these tests and to develop tools intended to better inform consumers about the products (in this case the batteries) that we buy. By participating financially, you help the project to develop and to fight for the limitation of the pollution emitted by the huge battery industry and to fight against planned obsolescence. On the other hand, as you can see on our website, two versions are available for purchase. A “classic” version at €69 allowing you to regenerate your used alkaline batteries and a collaborative version at €96. ​

Those who are interested in the subject already know this as evidenced by many comments and articles on the internet, but this is not the case for everyone. We will never say that RegenBox is a revelation (nor a revolution!), but it is clear that the majority of people are not aware of the possibility of regeneration of alkaline batteries. Our RegenBox technology is based on a patent that dates back more than 40 years and which has been enhanced by us.

No this is not recommended at all as it has a significant security risk...and it works very poorly on alkaline batteries. Chargers tend to force constant current charging. With the principle of electrical micro-pulses of the RegenBox, it is possible to carry out up to 10 regenerations of AA and AAA alkaline batteries. The regeneration time is on average 8 hours, we are talking here about slow charging which thus preserves the battery. This prolongs the life of the batteries by avoiding throwing them away too soon.

Yes, using NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) or NiZn (Nickel-zinc) rechargeable batteries is a way to reduce energy waste and reduce waste. But, in reality, there are several obstacles that considerably slow down the use of rechargeable batteries: · The price: rechargeable batteries are presented alongside alkaline batteries at a higher price, with similar packaging. The customer therefore has the impression of getting a good deal by choosing disposable batteries. · The absence of display of the real capacity of disposable batteries but present on rechargeable batteries. The customer cannot easily compare. · Marketing slogans: Alkaline batteries are sold with catchy slogans, they are “powerful”, they “really last longer”. However, over an entire life cycle (first use and subsequent uses), they last much less than rechargeable batteries. · A majority of electronic, photographic and lighting devices have been designed to operate with multiple voltages of 1.5 V (conventional alkaline batteries). However, rechargeable batteries have a maximum voltage of 1.2 V. Informed users therefore tend not to use them. ​​ ​ ​

We do indeed agree that NiMh batteries perform better, are more durable than alkaline batteries as they are manufactured today and are therefore ideally the best solution. The objective of the Regenbox is not at all to offer an alternative to NiMH or NiZn rechargeable batteries, but to offer a solution to reduce the current waste of alkaline batteries. Currently, of the approximately 30,000 tonnes of waste batteries, 80% are alkaline batteries. RegenBox does not propose to revolutionize the world of the battery by proposing to solve all the problems of pollution generated by the batteries. We are simply offering a pragmatic approach that aims to extend the life of alkaline batteries. There are still (and there will be more and more as the global market grows) many alkaline batteries in our homes. . They are mostly thrown away and most are not recycled. We therefore assume that taking care of regenerating these batteries is an interesting option in the face of ecological and energy issues, while waiting to have more robust and efficient batteries. You are therefore right, it is in principle preferable to buy Ni-Mh batteries, and the ideal would even be to find no more alkaline batteries on the market. But the goal of regenerating alkaline batteries is to consume less of them, therefore to manufacture less of them, and therefore to reduce the environmental impact of their manufacture. Remember the number 1 in 50, an alkaline battery requires 50 times more energy to manufacture than it is capable of delivering.

Recharging" a battery is the action of providing electrical energy that the battery will store or accumulate. As such, the term "rechargeable batteries" is misused because a battery is by definition an element that provides its own energy independently. We must therefore use the term accumulator for a rechargeable battery. “Regenerating” a battery is the action of recovering the capacity of the battery by reactivating the chemistry that composes it. In concrete terms, this process injects electrical impulses into the battery in order to reverse the chemical reaction that occurred during its use and which rendered it unusable. In general, a regenerated battery has reduced characteristics compared to a new battery; in particular, its internal resistance is higher. For this reason, regenerated batteries should be used preferably in low-consumption uses (clocks, radios, remote controls, backups, measuring devices, etc.). ​

Sagging is caused by rupture of the battery seal. This is supposed to occur in the event of a short circuit, or excessive current. In commercial batteries, the seal is for single use: when the overcurrent disappears, and the gases have been evacuated, it does not return to its initial state. The battery is permanently unusable. Rupture can also occur when too much current is injected into the battery. Drips mainly depend on two factors: · The electrolyte: in the initial design of alkaline batteries, the electrolyte was gelled, so it did not leak if the seal broke. Currently, batteries sold to the general public have a liquid electrolyte, except for some so-called professional batteries. · The seal: its quality varies according to the batteries. The risk of leakage is present with all alkaline batteries, regardless of regeneration. Note, however, that you should not regenerate a pile that has already sunk at the risk of seriously damaging the regenerator.

The regeneration of active materials in the battery concerns: · zinc oxide, which, by reduction, is transformed into zinc metal · manganese oxide, which by oxidation is transformed into manganese dioxide This operation produces crystals, the average size of which depends on the average current (the higher the current, the larger the crystals). During regeneration, what are called dendrites, which are large crystals, can form, which can pierce the inter-electrode separator, and short-circuit the battery internally, making it this fact unusable. With a pulsed current, there is a succession of current injection time and rest time (zero current). This therefore reduces the risk of dendrites.

The main reason for this duration is to reduce parasitic reactions. Regeneration is a rather complex electrochemical phenomenon, which is not reduced to injecting a quantity of electricity into a battery. It is necessary to take into account the electrochemical phenomena, which are surface phenomena, and not phenomena on the whole volume of the active materials. Regeneration of the battery's active materials takes place only on the surface of the electrodes (the "Nernst double layer"), with the materials to be regenerated on this double layer. When there are no more materials to regenerate on the double layer, this promotes a parasitic reaction, which is the reduction of hydrogen. We must therefore wait for new materials to be regenerated to be brought to the double layer by the diffusion mechanism. The slow injection of current makes it possible to reduce this parasitic reaction. In NiMH rechargeable batteries, for example, diffusion is much faster than in alkaline zinc manganese batteries. For these batteries, a charging time of 4 hours is therefore possible.

The currents injected for regeneration are around 40 mA on average, which is far from causing the battery to overheat. By comparison, the charge current of a rechargeable NiMH battery is around 500 to 1000 mA.

Once the battery no longer allows your device to work, it does NOT mean that it cannot be regenerated, there is often some energy left in it. Thus with a minimum battery voltage of 0.9V, this is sufficient to regenerate it with the RegenBox solution. Note, however, that the more you regenerate it, the shorter its cycle will be (inevitably) and the battery will end up being permanently out of service one day, but RegenBox allows you to delay this day significantly. Currently, the methodology for using alkaline batteries is to push their discharge to the maximum. A more efficient methodology would be to not push this discharge to the maximum, and to discharge them over a reduced range several tens of times. This is an idea taken up by 6 researchers from the New York University Foundation "New Alkaline Methodology".

The rechargeability of alkaline zinc manganese batteries has been studied in detail by electrochemists. We can cite in particular an article by Karl Kordesch from 1981, in Acta Electrochimica. If you discharge the battery over a reduced voltage range, you can get tens of cycles. And even, if we discharged the battery to 10% of its depth of discharge, we could make it complete 3000 cycles. This work is taken up and supplemented by an article published in 2015 in Journal of Power Sciences no 276, p. 7-18, by Ingale, Gallaway et al. This article recalls the main references. ​ If you have any other questions, contact us via our instant messaging window at the bottom right of your screen or write to us at hello@regenbox.org.