Lead-carbon Battery Research Articles

Enhancing cycle performance of lead-carbon battery anodes by lead-doped porous carbon composite and graphite additives

By using both lead-doped porous carbon composite and graphite, a hybrid carbon additive was designed to inhibit irreversible sulfation so as to enhance the cycle performance of lead-carbon battery anodes. The synergistic action mechanism was studied. We show that the hybrid carbon additive presents a unique structure of sheets attached to porous bulk, and this structure could confine the lead particles between graphite sheet and porous carbon to independently proceed the higher-rate charge-discharge testing. The separated lead nanoparticles could effectively inhibit the hydrogen evolution induced by carbon and enhance the reversible reaction of Pb/PbSO4, which prolong the cycle life of lead-carbon batteries.

Electrochemistry of thin-plate lead-carbon batteries employing alternative current collectors

Abstract The article discusses the electrochemistry of lead-carbon battery cells based on thin-plate electrodes with alternative current collectors. The latter are comprised of lead-electroplated graphite foil and expanded titanium mesh coated with SnO 2 replacing the conventional negative and positive grids. The results from charge/discharge tests, cycling voltammetry and impedance spectroscopy measurements show that the negative electrodes store energy via three types of electrochemical processes: electrostatic storage, reversible hydrogen storage and precipitation/dissolution of lead and lead sulfate. When the activated carbon is the predominant component of the negative active material the preferred energy storage mechanism is the reversible hydrogen storage. The use of titanium as alternative current collector allows to increase the active material to current collector ratio to 5: 1, retaining a high power performance and increasing the battery lifetime beyond 3000 equivalent cycles in partial state of charge cycling applications.

Phosphorus-doped activated carbon as a promising additive for high performance lead carbon batteries

Remarkable inhibition of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is demonstrated on phosphorus-doped activated carbon, which shows great potential as an additive to the negative electrodes of lead-carbon batteries and other electrochemical applications.

Tracking the morphology evolution of nano-lead electrodeposits on the internal surface of porous carbon and its influence on lead-carbon batteries

For studying the mechanism related to the microscopic internal structure of porous carbon additives in lead-carbon batteries, we conducted the electrochemical experiments with a three-electrode system on a lead-doped mesopore-dominated porous carbon (Pb@MC) composite in a Pb2+ containing H2SO4 electrolyte. Through the electrochemical measures, lead particles on the external surface of carbon could be not only electrodeposited into the nano-sized pores of carbon, but also attached on the pore wall with atomic state, which was observed for the first time by using High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM) and Aberration Corrected Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (ABF-STEM) with the help of ultrathin sectioning. The nano-lead electrodeposits on the internal surface of carbon didn’t grow up because they were confined by the nano-sized pores of carbon. These nano-lead deposits could not only effectively inhibit the hydrogen evolution, but also contribute the pseudocapacitance and enhance the reversible reaction of Pb/PbSO4, and thus result in the longer cycle performance of lead-carbon batteries.

Advanced Lead Batteries for Automotive and Storage Applications

In the steadily growing battery market, low emission hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) and energy storage systems (ESS) for supporting utility and decentralized grids linked to renewable energy power are supposed to form the major segments in the coming decade or two. In these applications the requirements to the batteries (which have to be cycled by increasingly high currents and at partial state of charge (HRPSoC)) are challenging for every chemistry. Like other advanced power sources, lead batteries are steadily improving and are matching today to the requirements of the advanced applications. Performance parameters like charge acceptance and dynamic charge acceptance, specific energy and specific power, cranking ability and energy efficiency, as well as cycle life at HRPSoC and deep cycling are subject of steady enhancement by the lead battery community. The ALABC members are achieving this by optimizing the design of the cells or by adding various forms of carbon to the negative and to the positive plates. Carbon is added as micro or nano sized particles of graphite, carbon black, activated carbon, nano tubes or graphene; as separate plates operating in parallel to the negative plate, or as a replacement of the grids. Efficient cell design optimization includes thin plates, height to footprint aspect ratio, bipolar and pseudo bipolar design, electrolyte concentration and a variety of additives. Optimizing of the recharge profiles at HRPSoC is another method of significantly prolonging the life of the battery. A number of companies in the US, in Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zeeland are offering batteries with the above enhancements, following the first lead-carbon battery – the Ultrabattery - which is now available by several battery manufacturers in Japan, USA, Europe and China. Along with lowest production costs and full safety, advanced lead batteries have the lowest carbon dioxide prodution footprint and are fully recycled, what makes them the most environmentally friendly battery chemistry on the market. The presentation reviews these innovations and provides a summary of the new program of the ALABC for further basic battery electrochemistry research and technology advancements.

Functional Anodic and Cathodic Transition of Graphene Oxide using Lead Electrodes and Its Electrochemistry

The transition in the composition, electrical and fracture properties of graphene oxide paper (GO) in at the anode (aGO) and cathode (cGO) of lead /sulphuric acid boundary have been studied. Higher thermal stability and lower weight loss of aGO (34wt% at 800 °C) with XRD peak at 2ϴ = 10.5° showed the reduction of the ordinary GO paper (95wt% at 800 °C). The fractographs from the SEM showed that the cGO failed by ductile rupture of a higher degree than the ordinary GO paper, while that of the aGO was brittle cleavage. UV-Vis, Fourier Transform Infrared and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopies showed the changes in functional groups, via the interaction of graphene oxide functional groups with protons, adsorbed oxygen containing ions. Graphene/lead oxide based composite was achieved by covalent interactions. Non-covalent complexation of metal ions with slight reduction gave rise to stronger graphene oxide paper at the cathode. The electrical conductivity of aGO are 1.61 x 106 S/m and those of the cGO are 4.27 X 105 S/m. This foremost work is useful for further study of graphene oxide electrochemical reduction and metallic oxide functionalization for electrode materials in advanced lead-carbon batteries.

Effect of activated carbon surface functional groups on nano-lead electrodeposition and hydrogen evolution and its applications in lead-carbon batteries

The effect of activated carbon (AC) surface functional groups on the cycle performance of lead-carbon batteries was studied from hydrogen evolution and nano-lead electrodeposition on the surface of the AC. AC materials were modified by oxidation methods (hot air or acid treatment) to increase acidic groups and reduction processes (alkaline treatment or heat treatment in N2) to increase alkaline groups. The surface functional groups were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Boehm titration method. We used cyclic voltammetry and a three-electrode system to prepare nano-lead deposits on the surface of the AC, and studied its influence on hydrogen evolution of AC. The results show that acidic groups are beneficial to lead electrodeposition. In addition, the lead deposits with high activity covering the surface of AC could inhibit hydrogen evolution and the irreversible sulfation in lead-carbon batteries, and then result in longer cycle life under High-rate Partial-state-of-Charge conditions.

Effects of carbon additives on the performance of negative electrode of lead-carbon battery

In this study, carbon additives such as activated carbon (AC) and carbon black (CB) are introduced to the negative electrode to improve its electrochemical performance, the negative electrode sheets are prepared by simulating the negative plate manufacturing process of lead-acid battery, the types and contents of carbon additives in the negative electrode sheets are investigated in detail for the application of lead-carbon battery. The electrochemical performance of negative electrode sheets are measured by chronopotentiometry, galvanostatic charge-discharge and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, the crystal structure and morphology are characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, respectively. The experimental results indicate that the appropriate addition of AC or CB can enhance the discharge capacity and prolong the cycle life of negative electrode sheets under high-rate partial-state-of-charge conditions, AC additive exerts more obvious effect than CB additive, the optimum contents for the best electrochemical performance of the negative electrode sheets are determined as 0.5wt% for both AC and CB. The reaction mechanism of the electrochemical process is also discussed in this paper, the appropriate addition of AC or CB in negative electrode can promote the conversion of PbSO4 to Pb, suppress the sulfation of negative electrode sheets and reduce the electrochemical reaction resistance.

The Beneficial Role of Carbon in the Negative Plate of Advanced Lead-Carbon Batteries

Lead-acid batteries have short cycle life in hybrid electric vehicles due to negative plate sulphation occurring at high-rate partial-state-of-charge cycling. It has been found experimentally that the problem can be solved by adding carbon to the negative plate. The types of carbon added, and the methods for their application are reviewed in this study. Special attention is devoted to the physical and chemical properties of carbon and to their importance for battery performance. Some methods for designing carbon electrodes (solid carbon and carbon powder) for electrochemical studies of carbon are described along with some initial test results like open circuit potential data and voltammograms in the negative plate potential region and in the region of hydrogen evolution. The available theoretical models explaining the mechanism of the influence of carbon on the power performance of lead-carbon batteries are also discussed.

Carbon Corrosion and Oxidation Lessons Learned from Fuel Cells: Relevance to Lead-Carbon Batteries

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