Electro-conductive Condition and Element Mapping on the Surface of Pb Electrode in Cells Including Additive Agents to Restrain Sulfation

Abstract

In this paper, seven kinds of lead acid batteries were assembled using Pb plates as imitated negative electrodes, and electrolyte resistances and charge transfer resistances in cases with and without additive agents were measured by AC impedance in the frequency range of 10 mHz - 20 kHz. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) was used to measure electrochemical reactions in 500 cycles, and the surface condition and element mapping of the Pb electrodes after the 500-cycle test were observed using field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). From the results, it was clarified that two types of additive agents showed high electro-conductivities and low quantities of sulfur and oxygen deposition on the surface of the Pb electrodes.