Conductive porous carbon (CPC) as an alternative to reticulated vitreous carbon (RVC) in lead acid battery current collectors

Abstract

Thea article presents the latest research on reticulated carbon collectors in lead-acid batteries. A comparison of the performance characteristics of lead-acid cells and batteries based on two porous conductive carbon materials is presented: commercially available reticulated vitreous carbon (RVC), used in earlier studies, and porous conductive carbon (CPC) developed at the Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw. Lead layers electrodeposited on CPC had better properties and more uniform thickness. Carbon-based negative and positive plates were tested regarding their capacity using different current rates and cycle life. Experiments on complete 2 and 12 V batteries are presented as well. CPC is proven to be as good material as RVC for use as current collectors in lead-acid cells. Obtained results show that there are reticulated carbon materials different from RVC with properties that allow them to be successfully employed in construction of both negative and positive plates in lead-acid batteries. • Two porous carbon materials, CPC and RVC, were compared as current collectors • Test of negative, positive plates and complete lead-acid batteries were performed • CPC is shown to be as good material for current collectors as RVC