Camille Alphonse Faure (born May 21, 1840, in Vizille; died September 14, 1898) was a French chemical engineer. In 1881, he made major improvements to the design of the lead-acid battery, which Gaston Planté had invented in 1859. His changes greatly increased the battery's storage ability and allowed for large-scale production. The patents were given to the company Société La Force et la Lumière. The right to use these patents in the British Isles was sold to the Faure Electric Accumulator Company on March 29, 1881. Faure worked as a consultant engineer for William Edward Ayrton at this company.

Biography

He was born in Vizille and studied at the Ecole des Arts et Métiers in Aix. From 1874 until about 1880, he worked as a chemist at the new factory of the Cotton Powder Company in Uplees, Faversham, Kent, England. During this time, he and the factory manager, George Trench, received patents for tonite, a new high explosive (1874), and an improved dynamite detonator (1878).

In 1880, Faure patented a method for coating lead plates with a mixture of lead oxides, sulfuric acid, and water. The mixture was then cured by gentle warming in a humid environment. This process changed the paste into a combination of lead sulfates that stuck to the lead plate. When the battery was charged, the cured paste became a material that helped the battery store more energy than Planté's battery. This was an important discovery that led to the mass production of lead-acid batteries, which are now used to start motor cars.

Near the end of his life, Faure received additional patents, including methods for making aluminum alloys, improvements to hot air engines, and designs for motor vehicle steering mechanisms.