What material is the positive and negative electrode of a #5 battery made of?

The material of the positive and negative electrodes of a battery mainly depends on the type of battery.

Common types of #5 batteries are dry cells and alkaline batteries.

Dry batteries: the positive electrode is a carbon rod surrounded by a paste electrolyte doped with manganese dioxide, and the negative electrode is a cylinder made of zinc containing ammonium chloride as the electrolyte, a small amount of zinc chloride, inert filler and water to make a paste electrolyte.

Alkaline batteries: alkaline batteries have a positive electrode of manganese dioxide, a negative electrode of zinc and potassium hydroxide as the electrolyte.

The electrode reaction of dry cell is: zinc atoms at the negative electrode become zinc ions (Zn++), releasing electrons, and ammonium ions (NH4+) at the positive electrode get electrons and become ammonia and hydrogen. Manganese dioxide is used to remove the hydrogen gas to eliminate polarization. The electric potential is about 1.5 volts. Lead batteries are most commonly used, with the pole plates being grids made of lead alloy and the electrolyte being dilute sulfuric acid. Both pole plates are covered with lead sulfate.

But after charging, the positive pole at the pole plate on the lead sulfate into lead dioxide, the negative pole at the lead sulfate into metal lead. When discharged, the chemical reaction occurs in the opposite direction.