Highly reversible lead-carbon battery anode with lead grafting on thecarbon surface

A novel C/Pb composite has been successfully prepared by electmless plating to reduce the hydrogenevolution and achieve the high reversibility of the anode of lead-carbon battery （LCB）. The depositedlead on the surface of C/Pb composite was found to be uniform and adherent to carbon surface. Becauselead has been stuck on the surface of C/Pb composite, the embedded structure suppresses the hydrogenevolution of lead-carbon anode and strengthens the connection between carbon additive and sponge lead.Compared with the blank anode, the lead-carbon anode with C/Pb composite displays excellent charge-discharge reversibility, which is attributed to the good connection between carbon additives and leadthat has been stuck on the surface of C/Pb composite during the preparation process. The addition of CIPb composite maintains a solid anode structure with high specific surface area and power volume, andthereby, it plays a significant role in the highly reversible lead-carbon anode.

Effect of Properties of Carbon Materials on Performance of VRLA Batteries

In the present study, the relationship between properties of different carbon materials and their impact on performance of VRLA （valve regulated lead acid） battery was studied. The material properties undertaken for the study are： surface area, conductivity and water absorption of the carbon. The electrode morphology revealed the uniform distribution of active material when high surface area carbon was added to NAM （negative active material）. The porosity of the plate also exhibited changes with respect to type of carbon materials added. The study further revealed that, the addition of high surface area carbon （-1,400 m^2/g） improves the charge acceptance of the battery with higher loading. Further improvement in charge acceptance was observed with addition of graphite to higher surface area carbon. Nevertheless, the float current of the battery got affected due to graphite loading and found there was no impact on shelf life of the battery in all the cases. The study demonstrates the need for customized ＂carbon formulation＂ to obtain the maximum performance out of the battery.

Effect of Additives on the Performance of Lead Acid Batteries

Effect of titanium dioxide （TiO2） and carbon additives in the respective positive and negative material properties and the influence on the performance of the battery were investigated. The electrode samples were characterized by BET （Brunauer Emmett Teller）, XRD （X-ray diffractometer）, SEM （scanning electron microscopy） and EIS （electrochemical impedance spectroscopy） to understand the surface area, phase, structure, morphology and electrical conductivity of the respective electrode material. The surface area was obtained as 2.312 m2＂g＂l and 0.892 m2＂g＂1, respectively for 12% of activated carbon in the expander of negative and 0.70% of TiO2 （Titanium dioxide） in the PAM （positive active material）. The structural analysis reveals an increase in the tetrabasic lead sulfate and also evidenced by well grown crystals in the PAM with the TiO2, respectively obtained by XRD and SEM techniques. The impedance spectra analysis shows an increase of electrical conductivity of negative active mass with temperature. The battery results showing two fold enhancements in the charge acceptance were attributed to the high surface area activated carbon in the NAM （negative active material）. The materials properties of electrodes and their influence on the battery performance were discussed.