Lead-Acid Battery Overview

Abstract

The lead-acid battery has become so dependable in its usual applications of automobile starting, emergency lighting, and telecommunications, that the belief has arisen erroneously that no further investigation of this battery is necessary or desirable. While there has been a slow but continuous improvement in lead-acid battery performance and dependability over the long period of its existance (20wH/Kg in 1920 to 42wH/Kg presently), these improvements have been mainly limited to better engineering of parts, such as through the cell wall connectors and better current collector designs as well as the use of improved construction materials such as plastics for cell cases. These improvements have lead to less unreactive materials being incorporated within the battery thus giving higher energy densities per unit weight. Considering the long time that this battery has existed, there has been relatively little effort to understand the complex chemistry and electrochemistry upon which the successful operation of the battery system is based. This lack of research arises partly from the fact that this is a highly competitive and cost conscious industry which does not encourage research expenditure, and partly from the fact that it has been possible in the past to produce a product, without extensive research, that has been adequate for most prior applications.